'Happy Chinese New Year' performance held in Cyprus

A Chinese dance and song troupe performed in Limassol, a city on the southern coast of Cyprus on Wednesday ahead of the onset of the Spring Festival, China's most important holiday for family reunion.

Chinese artists perform during the "Happy Chinese New Year" event to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Limassol, Cyprus, on Jan. 24, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

The same show, which wishes a splendid future to Chinese living in Cyprus and local Cypriots, will be performed by the troupe on Thursday for an audience in a southwest city Pafos.

The ambassador of China in Cyprus, Huang Xingyuan, who hosted the performance, addressed the audience, wishing them a happy and prosperous year.

The ambassador recalled that there have been numerous performances by Chinese groups in almost all Cypriot cities in 2017, as part of the Heart to Heart program introduced by the Embassy of China aimed at bringing Cypriots and expatriate Chinese even closer together.

He noted that over the past year relations between China and Cyprus have made great strides with fruitful result in high level interactions, economic and trade cooperation.

He added that there have also been numerous cultural exchanges that culminated in a grand celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of sister cities between Limassol and Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province.

Through their dances and songs, the performers urged people to smile and feel happy, to believe in their dreams, in miracles, in themselves and in the future.

They also thrilled the capacity audience in the magnificent Rialto theatre of Limassol by performing a song in the traditional "Tillirkotissa voice" or idiom singing of northwestern Cyprus having its roots in classical Greece.

The dances and the songs of the troupe, sent by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, were chosen so as to present to audience the way of life, folklore and culture from different parts of China.