On February 7th, 2012 Confucius Institute at Free International University from Moldova (ULIM) organized the celebration “Chinese New Year Lantern Festival” in the “Cupidon Hall”, Chisinau. The celebration was attended by the new Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of China in the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Tong Mingtao and his wife, the Minister of Education of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Mihail Sleahtitchi, the Rector of the Free International University from Moldova, Academician, Mr. Andrei Galben, the General Director of the General Directorate of Education, Youth and Sport from Chisinau, Mrs. Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb, the Ex-minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, now ULIM vice-rector of foreign affairs and Moldovan director of the Confucius Institute at ULIM, Mr. Nicolae Tau, Confucius Institute Moldovan friends, teachers and Chinese students, in total about 200 people.

At the beginning of the celebration the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute wished to all the guests a happy “Lantern Festival”. She mentioned that the establishment of Confucius Institute at ULIM was strongly supported by the Moldovan friends and by the Chinese Embassy in Moldova. In this context, she expressed her heartfelt thanks to everybody.

The Ambassador of China in Moldova, Mr. Tong Mingtao, in his speech expressed his hope and intention to strengthen the bilateral ties, mutual understanding and friendship between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Moldova. He said that due to the joint efforts of the North West Normal University and the Free International University of Moldova, all the projects of Confucius Institute developed and became successful. The Ambassador expressed his strong will to make joint efforts with the Republic of Moldova to enhance friendship between the countries and to promote cooperation, especially in the field of culture and education.

The Rector of ULIM, Mr. Andrei Galben, mentioned that even if they encountered a lot of difficulties and resistance when the Confucius Institute was established at ULIM, due to the joint efforts of the Chinese Embassy in Moldova and Free International University of Moldova, together with the support of teachers and students, the Confucius Institute at ULIM became the base of Chinese language education in Moldova.

The Confucius Institute students were the artists of the celebration. The concert was innitiated by the traditional Chinese dance “Fan Dance”, it looked like the fans in the hands of the artists were alive, the graceful dance fascinated the audience. Chinese Kung fu bustled the atmosphere of the evening. Rivals, swords, sticks, dazzling, made the audience bursts of applause. The other presentations that impressed the audience were Chinese calligraphy, tea ceremony, Chinese songs, poems, Chinese traditional New Year drama “The story of the New Year”. The love of Moldovan friends for the Chinese language and culture is impressive, and their ability to feel and to promote the Chinese culture reached high levels.

After the concert, the guests enjoyed the Chinese cuisine and watched the exhibition of pictures in which were presented the activities of the Confucius Institute at ULIM. The festival was an experience of Chinese culture for the Moldovan citizens, who enjoyed the Chinese style performance.