Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai touches the eye of a lion in a lion awakening ceremony on Saturday morning in the Kogod Courtyard of American Art Museum in Washington where the Chinese New Year Family event was held to greet the Year of the Monkey, which falls on Feb 8 this year. [Photo by Chen Weihua/China Daily USA]

Two years ago, the Smithsonian Institution held a Chinese Folk Art Festival on the National Mall, drawing a million visitors. "We are very grateful for that," Kurin said, referring to the Chinese artists coming to the festival.

In addition to the Saturday event at the American Art Museum, similar Chinese New Year celebrations to greet the Year of the Monkey, which falls on Feb 8 this year, will also be held in the surrounding areas, at Delaware State University in Dover on Sunday, Country Club Mall in Cumberland, Maryland on Feb 3, in Virginian Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, on Feb 13 and at the Kennedy Center in Washington from Feb 5-8, including a concert by the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.