Norway's Arctic port Chinatown highlights 'golden age'

KIRKENES, Norway - About 400 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, fireworks lit up the evening sky of Kirkenes, Norway's Barents port, or "World's Northernmost Chinatown" in the five days from last Wednesday.

The fireworks marked the start of a five-day festival - the 2019 Barents Spektakel with the theme "World's Northernmost Chinatown," meant to highlight "a golden age of China," according to the organizers.

"As receding sea ice opens shipping routes to the north, and unimaginable levels of global investment revitalize ancient overland trade routes, the time is right to welcome China to Kirkenes and create a future of prosperity and cooperation," they said in the event's introduction.