An African expat who now lives in Xi'an City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, showed the festivities and jubilant atmosphere of the Chinese New Year vividly in a vlog.

Originally from the Republic of Congo, Ying Yong, which means bravery in Chinese, has now been studying and living in China for 12 years. Fluent in Mandarin and Shaanxi dialect, he said he had long considered Xi'an as his hometown.

With the advent of the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan 22 this year, Ying had a walking tour around the Xi'an City Wall Park, town god's temple and Yongxingfang food street while experiencing folk activities and local specialties.

He talked with the vendors in Shaanxi dialect and bought some red-colored decorations with cartoon rabbits for his house. He also tried to learn puppetry from an old lady.

Ying Yong said he likes the noodles in particular, among many other delicacies in Xi'an.

"Tell you what, come visit Xi'an now. The food here is so great," he said.

"I can't find the taste of this Biangbiang noodles back in my home country. So whenever I went home, I miss Xi'an very much. We have pasta, but the pasta is not like the noodles in Xi'an," he said.

At night, colorful lanterns lit up the sky of the ancient capital, particularly in the Tang Paradise, where the night view is spectacular.

"I found that lanterns are very important in the Chinese New Year. They create a good atmosphere. I feel that the whole city of Xi'an is very festive," he said.

"I took videos and photos today and I am going to send them to my parents. For example, this 'little loong boy', I'm going to show the pictures to my foreign friends. I hope I can make more videos like this and tell my friends about the profound culture of China," he said.