TALLINN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- A grand crowd of Estonians were entertained on Sunday with a great Chinese cultural event including dragon and lion dancing, Wushu, acrobatics and Chinese traditional music concert to celebrate the Chinese New Year abroad.
The performances were staged at the Freedom (Vabaduse) Square by Estonian Sports and Traditional Wushu Federation, which was taught by the visiting Beijing performers in 2015.
Delivering a speech, Taavi Aas, acting mayor of Tallinn city, welcomed the arrival of the Chinese artists, wishing a happy Chinese New year to all and referring to the culture of the Year of the Rooster.
He told Xinhua that Estonians are interested in the Chinese culture, and the cultural exchange is beneficial to promote closer cooperation in various sectors including business and information technology.
Chinese Ambassador to Estonia Qu Zhe hailed the contribution of Happy Chinese New Year cultural tour in consecutive eight years to the cultural exchange between China and Estonia and at the local level, which diversifies the Estonian people's entertainment, deepens the friendship and understanding of the two peoples.
A family of three including father Aleksei, mother Tatjana, and their two-year-old son Andrei, said this is the third time for them to watch the Happy Chinese New Year cultural event, describing the performance as "special and interesting."
At the almost fully occupied Estonian Concert Hall, two traditional Chinese orchestras presented professional performance featured with styles of two Chinese regions: Shaanxi province, the start of the ancient Silk Road in the northwest of China, and the Fuchun Mountain, known for its beautiful landscape located in Zhejiang province in the south of China.
Marika Kattai told Xinhua that she likes the silk road music the most, describing the performance as "very good."
Kalev Kallo, Chairman of the City Council of Tallinn, told Xinhua that he has visited China for 12 times and enjoyed the performance very much.
The orchestras also performed the Estonian music "Estonian Soil and Estonian Heart" and won a long standing ovation from the audience when it was over.
