Medieval Bulgarian capital celebrates Chinese New Year

Bulgarian medieval capital Veliko Turnovo on Sunday afternoon and evening for the first time ever in its millennial history officially celebrated the Chinese Spring Festival.

The nearly five-hour festivities held under the title "Happy Chinese New Year" were jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Chinese embassy in Bulgaria, the government of the Chinese province of Hebei, Veliko Turnovo municipality and the local Confucius Institute.

The celebrations kicked off with a musical concert in the Big Hall of the municipality, which began with a performance of the popular Chinese song "Jasmine" by the choir of the nearby town of Targovishte, and ended with the anthem of Bulgaria, played by the Chinese pipa virtuoso Tu Shan Xiang.

Meanwhile, performers of traditional Chinese musical instruments played songs about spring, flowers and love.

Demonstration of traditional Chinese crafts such as egg carving and paper cutting was held right after that in the Palace of Culture and Sports, followed by a show program attended by some 1,500 spectators.

Li Yang, head of the Chinese delegation, told Xinhua that the performances on the occasion of the Chinese New Year was aimed at showing Chinese culture to different countries and peoples of the world.

Gancho Karabadjakov, Deputy Mayor of Veliko Turnovo, told Xinhua that Veliko Turnovo is "the spiritual capital of Bulgaria, therefore the celebration of the Chinese New Year in the town is a special event, as it is related to culture and spirituality."

He added that this event was a further step in deepening the ties between his town and China, after a Chinese Studies department was established at the University of Veliko Turnovo in 1993, and a Confucius Institute was opened there in 2012. Endit