Yang Xiaolong, director of China Cultural Centre in Malta, delivers a welcoming speech. [Photo by Chen Mishuo/Chinaculture.org]

China Cultural Centre in Malta, together with the Confucius Institute of the University of Malta and the Mediterranean Regional Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine, held "Chinese Salon Celebrating Lantern Festival" event on Feb 19.

Nevile Calleja talks about his living in China. [Photo by Chen Mishuo/Chinaculture.org]

Yang Xiaolong, director of China Cultural Centre in Malta, delivered a welcoming speech and briefly introduced the origin and customs of Lantern Festival. Yang said people would be able to master Chinese and understand Chinese culture well if they could learn Chinese in a cultural environment.

Children make sweet dumplings. [Photo by Chen Mishuo/Chinaculture.org]

Martin Azzopardi, Nevile Calleja and Alexandra Golomovzaya, students from China Cultural Centre in Malta, shared their experience of learning and visiting China. The Mediterranean Regional Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine made health-preserving soup, which delivered the concept and the method of cooking Chinese tonic food. Children participating in the activity learned to make lanterns and sweet dumplings. Tutors of Confucius Institutes popularized Chinese characteristics such as the zodiac and lanterns to the children and their parents.

Chinese cuisine, tonic health-preserving soup. [Photo by Chen Mishuo/Chinaculture.org]

Activities integrated resources of three institutions, aiming at the characteristics and interests of local people, combining cultural communicating and experience teaching. The publicity of "Chinese Salon", which effectively promoted Maltese people's understanding of Chinese festivals and festival culture, was reported in media and drew a happy ending to the event.