Southampton, February 2nd - As it has only been very recently established, the Confucius Institute at the University of Southampton held their first grand cultural events since their official launch: the New Year Gala for 2012.

The Gala was staged at the Theatre Royal Winchester which has a long history. More than four hundred people attended the Gala, including VIP guests such as Councillor Terry Mathews, the Mayor of Southampton, Prof. Mark Spearing, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Southampton and Mr. George Beckett, a leader of Winchester City Council. Education Minister Councillor Tian Xiaogang of the Chinese Embassy in the UK and Ms. Zhu Li, Second Secretary of the Education Section of the Embassy, also attended the event.

Following an opening act involving traditional Chinese festive singing and dancing called “Happy Lunar New Year”, Professor Lu Maozu, British Director of the Confucius Institute, gave his opening speech, welcoming the guests and thanking them for their support for the Confucius Institute. Minister Councillor Tian Xiaogang also gave a speech, in which he talked about the importance of cultural exchange programmes between China and the UK, and encouraged more extensive exchange between Chinese and UK students.

The event was jointly hosted by the Confucius Institute at the University of Southampton and the Winchester School of Art. Dispatched by Hanban, A total of 22 student performers from Weinan Normal University Arts Troupe, which is located near the famous historical city of Xi’an, staged a wonderful evening of entertainment for the guests. Their presentations of traditional Chinese dances, Chinese folk songs, classic Western Operas and foreign language songs, as well as Chinese musical instruments performance and the demonstration of Chinese calligraphy were all very well received by the audience. The Gala, which lasted nearly two hours, ended with the troupe returning to the stage for a Chinese rendition of “Auld Lang Syne”.