Chinese New Year celebrated at Confucius Institute in Sofia

SOFIA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Spring Festival, or the lunar New Year, was celebrated here on Thursday evening in the hall of the Confucius Institute in Sofia.

School and university students who study the Chinese language in the Bulgarian capital, along with their Chinese teachers and soloists of Sofia Opera, sang and danced, winning the applause of over 250 spectators.

The audience also enjoyed performance of traditional Chinese martial arts.

Chen Ying, first secretary of the Chinese embassy in Bulgaria and head of its education section, said the Confucius Institute in Sofia, as one of the Confucius Institutes worldwide, has achieved lots of success.

She noted that more than 2,000 people from 10 cities in Bulgaria have studied the Chinese language and about 50 cultural events have been organized.