SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General here Tuesday announced a series of cultural events to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year with local people in major cities in the western United States.

"Chinese Spring Festival reflects the Chinese people's adherence to excellent traditional values. The festival has also been increasingly embraced by people of other countries and become an important tie to connect overseas Chinese with their motherland," said Xiao Xiayong, cultural counselor of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, at a press conference.

This year's events include a musical festival, Chinese operas, variety shows, concerts and parades from January to March in Northern California, Nevada and Oregon.

As part of a program called "Happy Chinese New Year," the serial events were initiated by China's Ministry of Culture in 2010 to allow American people to share in the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.

Last year, the "Happy Spring Festival" events were held in more than 400 cities of over 130 countries, Xiao said.

"In the celebrations of the Spring Festival, we find Chinese and American people share a lot of common values, such as the value of family, the longing for a good life and the cherishing of excellent culture and art," he said.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Feb. 5 this year. San Francisco is the first place in the United States that embraced the Chinese culture.

The Lunar New Year celebration in San Francisco Chinatown is considered the oldest and the largest of its kind outside of Asia and dates back to the 1860s.

The annual Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco is ranked among the top 10 parades in the world. Every year, millions of people celebrate the Lunar New Year at community events across California.

Last year, California designated the Lunar New Year as a day of special cultural significance to encourage all public schools and educational institutions in the state to recognize the traditions and cultural significance of the day and to hold festivities and celebrations for the occasion.