The Shadow Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Community Safety and Equalities at Birmingham City Council  has called on  Birmingham community leaders during Chinese New Year to recognise the core values of Chinese culture and build a better Birmingham for all of our futures.   

At a special Chinese New Year reception at the Chung Ying Restaurant in Birmingham Chinatown with special guest Andy Street CBE, Mayor of the West Midlands, Councillor Peter Fowler outlined how Chinese people and culture had enhanced English life and how we needed to learn from Chinese people.  

"During Chinese New Year we must build a Birmingham that we can all be proud of",  he explained "and learn from Chinese people.  There are at least 20,000 Chinese people living in Birmingham alone and they call Birmingham their home.  It is estimated that there are 150,000 Chinese students living across the region.  Thousands more are coming to live and work.  Chinese culture has permeated the fabric of British society".   "All things under the sun will flourish when harmony prevails" claimed the philosopher Xun Zi and Councillor Peter Fowler (pictured with Chung Ying Restaurant Group Managing Director James Wong) seems to agree harmony is important in our lives.  "Harmony is the core of Chinese values" said Councillor Fowler "and the centre of you8r mind, body and mental health.  It also exists in nature and we need to remember this as we try and tackle climate change."  

Councillor Fowler gave a passionate speech about how Chinese people value harmony as the basic principle of nature, humanity and society as a whole and how we can import these lessons into our wider culture with all of it`s different ethnic groups to live united and peacefully together.  Living in harmony could also lead to improved relationships, stabilise our communities and help conduct business successfully.

  "As we head into Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rat" said Councillor Fowler "let`s look at what we can learn.  Rats are clever, adaptable, quick thinkers and like to live a quiet and peaceful life.  We should be like that during the Year of the Rat.  We must work in harmony and co-operate with each other.  Only then will we be successful.  We need harmony."   

The Zodiacal Rat is the first of the repeating 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac.  The Year of the Rat comes right after the Year of the Pig and before the Year of the Ox.  The Year of the Rat promises new opportunities and new beginnings. 

  Millions of people are preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year when it will be marked by communities all over the world.  Traditionally, people will at lots of food, enjoy fireworks, wear special clothes and hang red lanterns to mark the occasion.  It begins on 25th January and marks the start of the lunar new year which is when there is the start of a new moon. 

Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival and it is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.