Chinese artists bring joy of Moon Festival to New Zealand audience

WELLINGTON -- The Ode To The Moon Festival Gala between New Zealand and China was held with high quality performances to celebrate this year's Mid-Autumn Festival at the New Zealand National Museum on Sunday night.

The Gala, co-hosted by the China Cultural Center in Wellington, the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism and the Chongqing International Culture and Tourism Exchange Center, was part of the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism.

Artists from southwestern China's Chongqing Three Gorges Operatic Troupe presented the Wellington audience with Sichuan Opera Performance with Face-changing, Pipa Solo, classic songs, festive songs, dances, stunning magic show, as well as Bamboo Qin show, a national-rated non-material cultural legacy in China.

The performances by the Chinese artists perfectly showed the charm of Chinese culture and art to the audience. During the performance, applause and cheers came one after another.

Guo Zongguang, director of the China Cultural Center in New Zealand, stressed that this show was one the most important events in this year's cultural exchanges between China and New Zealand.

"Our Ode to the Moon series is one of the three "tentpole" events in our yearly calendar, along with Happy Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year and China Culture Week in the middle of the year. The Ode to the Moon series of events are simultaneously celebrated by nearly 40 other China Cultural Centres around the world, helping connect and bring us all closer," said Guo.

Brett Hudson, a member of Parliament, acknowledged that China, now New Zealand's largest trading partner, provided New Zealanders "thousands and thousands of jobs."

"Our relationship with China is extremely important. Our two-way trade now tops 28 billion New Zealand dollars (17.86 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, that is thousands and thousands of jobs for New Zealanders to improve life styles for families, because we have a strong relationship, and it is strengthening even further through cultural exchange and better understanding of one another," Hudson said.

The Moon Festival, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a harvest festival celebrated in China and usually falls in September or October, on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.