BISHKEK, March 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 foreign embassies here, including the Chinese Embassy, took part in a charity fair in the Kyrgyz capital Wednesday while celebrating the Nowruz holiday.

Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bishkek Mayor's Office, the fair offered guests and residents an opportunity to get acquainted with cultures and traditions from other countries.

During the event, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry and other countries' diplomatic missions demonstrated folk arts, sold products from their respective countries and offered national cuisine to the guests.

The money collected from the charity fair would be given as material assistance to the needy.

Nowruz is celebrated on the spring equinox, usually on March 21, and marks the beginning of a new year according to the astronomical solar calendar of the Iranian and Turkic peoples.

Nowruz is included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.?