KIEV — The Silk Road cultural project “Experience China 2018 — the culture of western China in Ukraine” kicked off here on June 26, offering the local public a glance into art, music and traditions of western China.

The event started with a grand concert entitled “Magical Silk Road” held in the Center for culture and arts of Kiev Polytechnic University.

During the show, 13 performances, including traditional and modern songs of western China and bright dances with elements of acrobatics and martial arts were performed on the stage.

Chinese artists also charmed the Ukrainian public with a play on erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument with a more than 1,000-year history, which is also known as a “Chinese violin.”

A highlight of the concert was a Chinese singer Chen Tao singing a Ukrainian song “My Kiev,” who won roaring applause from the Ukrainian public.

In parallel with the concert, a photo exhibition entitled “Colorful Western China” is held as a part of the cultural event. It features 45 pictures capturing scenery, ecology, everyday life and traditional culture of western China.

The cultural event, hosted by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) of China and the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, has drawn the audience of about 1,500 spectators, including Ukrainian officials and government representatives.

Ren Xiangqun, the deputy director of the Human Rights Affairs Department of the SCIO, said the event will deepen cultural exchanges between China and Ukraine.

“This is another evidence that the cultural exchanges between China and Ukraine are continuously deepening due the continuous progress of the Belt and Road Initiative,” Ren said.

Yuriy Artemenko, the chairman of the National television and radio broadcasting council of Ukraine, stressed that the event is a good opportunity to promote friendship between the peoples of China and Ukraine.

“The economics makes people rich, while the culture unites them. I want this event to be a unifying first step on a long path. We have a lot of work ahead,” Artemenko said.

Meanwhile, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, said that the cultural events have always contributed to building good relations between China and Ukraine.

“I had the honor to sign the necessary documents to establish diplomatic relations between Ukraine and China. And I must say that all these years, the relations between China and Ukraine were built on the basis of friendship and on the interest towards each other,” Kravchuk said.

The cultural project “Experience China 2018 — the culture of western China in Ukraine” will be held in Kiev and in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv till June 29.

Apart from the concert and the photo exhibition, the event will feature a documentary TV-series presenting the daily life of residents of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and a movie about the harmonious co-existence of nature and humans in Southwest China’s Tibet autonomous region and Sichuan province.