(Beijing, December 7, 2017) – Known as the official home of Santa Claus, Finland marked the 100th Anniversary of the country’s independence in 2017 around the theme of “Together”. On December 6, 2017, the Independence Day of Finland, Visit Finland brought Santa Claus to Beijing to visit GuangAi Children’s House located in Shunyi District for a very special pre-Christmas visit. He brought gifts of Finnish picture books to the more than 80 orphaned and left-behind children in the home.
In an effort to support this campaign, Visit Finland also initiated an online donation entitled “Extending Warmth Together with Santa Claus” to raise funds for GuangAi’s project of changing winter heating fuel from coal to natural gas, in partnership with the Embassy of Finland in Beijing and Finland’s leading children’s outdoor clothing brand – Reima. More than 100 warm-hearted people joined the charity initiative and over 10,000 Yuan has been donated within two weeks.
Finland’s 100th Anniversary of Independence
Finland declared its independence on December 6, 1917. Over the past 100 years, Finns has been making concerted efforts to build the country and enabled her to occupy leading positions worldwide in many fields. For example, Finland is one of the world’s happiest countries, the world’s most innovative countries, as well as the world’s best countries for gender equality. Finland has one of the leading education systems in the world and ranked the Best Place to be a Mother. The history of 100 years of independence embodies the values which Finns has been attaching great importance to: democracy, education, equality and freedom of expression.
Mr. Pekka Timonen, Secretary-General for Centennial Celebrations, Prime Minister’s Office of Finland, said, “Finland’s centennial is a very unique and big occasion to be celebrated and one of the most important commemorations our generation can witness. Finnish people joined hands with friends from over 100 countries to celebrate this anniversary in a special and open-armed way, marking 2017 as a new chapter in the history of our country.”
When mentioning the theme “Together” of Finland’s centennial celebrations, Mr. Jyri Lintunen, Press & Culture Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Beijing, China, said, “We expect to share the theme in China as well. Besides gifts, hope our Santa Claus can bring happiness, blessings and inspirations to these children.”
Visit Santa’s hometown in Rovaniemi
Santa Claus’ original home lies in the mysterious Korvatunturi (“Ear Fell”) in Finnish Lapland. Since the exact location is a secret only known to a chosen few, he decided to establish an office in Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, in 1985. Rovaniemi received the status of the Official Hometown of Santa Claus in 2010.
Open each day of the year, children and adults can visit Santa’s office and enjoy a private chat with him. Visitors can also take photos with Santa, or mail a favorite post card sealed with Arctic Pole stamp to their family and friends.
- End-
QR code for donation via Tencent Charity platform
***
About Visit Finland
Visit Finland, is a state agency actively promoting Finland as a destination for foreign travelers. Visit Finland works closely with Finnish travel regions, travel businesses, transport companies and ministries, marketing tourism to Finland from abroad.
For more information about Visit Finland, please visit: www.visitfinland.com/
About Reima
Reima is a global leading specialist in performance kidswear. Founded in Finland in 1944, adopting original design and cutting-edge technologies in the manufacture of functional kids’ clothing by using safe and durable materials. Reima’s mission is to guarantee kids their freedom to roam and play outside regardless of the weather. Reima is being sold in over 70 countries, generating more than 7 million annual sales.
For more information about Reima, please visit: www.reima.fi
About GuangAi Children’s House
GuangAi Children’s House is a non-profit and non-governmental charity organization for children’s education under the supervision of the China Foundation of Culture and Arts for Children and the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund, with a mission to aid and educate orphans, street children and left-behind children through its three main facilities including Psychological Rehabilitation Room, Music & Art Room and Library.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Kathleen Shannon, GHC Asia
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +86 (21) 5213 3030
Link to download high resolution images:
https://pan.baidu.com/s/1gfnLFDh
Visit Finland initiated “Extending Warmth Together with Santa Claus” in partnership with the Embassy of Finland in Beijing and Finland’s leading children’s outdoor clothing brand – Reima
Visit Finland brought Santa Claus to Beijing to visit GuangAi Children’s House located in Shunyi District for a very special pre-Christmas visit.
© Liana Technologies