SOFIA, Sept. 16 -- Dozens of Bulgarians gathered on Monday evening at the China Cultural Center in Sofia to celebrate the upcoming traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

The event under the guidance of the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria and hosted by the China Cultural Center in Sofia featured a show that included poetry and song performances, as well as quizzes dedicated to the festival.

Meanwhile, a five-day joint exhibition was opened, featuring 55 works by 10 Chinese and five Bulgarian artists.

Addressing the event, Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Dai Qingli said that the Mid-Autumn Festival was one of the oldest in China, symbolizing family gathering, joy and harmony.

It carried the expectations of the Chinese people for a better life, Dai said, adding that although thousands of kilometers separated China from Bulgaria, the two peoples shared the same Moon and prayed for a happy family, social harmony and world peace.

Dai also noted that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bulgaria.

She said that over the past 75 years, China and Bulgaria have achieved fruitful cooperation in various fields, especially in cultural exchanges, where the two countries continued to promote people-to-people communication through mutual recognition of civilizations, strengthen understanding and deepen friendship through various activities.

"Today's Chinese-Bulgarian art exhibition is another vivid example of cultural integration between the two countries," Dai said.

Rositsa Kirova, vice president of Bulgaria's National Assembly, said in a letter to the event that with its millennial history, cultural richness, and unique achievements of human creativity and imagination, China has always made enormous contributions and held a prominent place in world civilization.

People in Bulgaria treated China, Chinese culture and the country's contemporary development with great respect, interest and goodwill, Kirova said.

For Bulgaria, relations of traditional friendship and cooperation with China were of priority importance, she said.

Tsoncho Ganev, vice president of Bulgaria's National Assembly and chairman of the parliamentary friendship group "Bulgaria-China," who attended the event in person, said that with the bright events during the year in which the two countries celebrated the 75th anniversary of their friendship, Bulgarians got the opportunity to enjoy the pearls of Chinese culture and get closer to the Chinese people.

"On this family holiday, let's wish from the bottom of our hearts that we can all enjoy peace, prosperity, strong economic and cultural ties, close partnership cooperation and sincere friendship as two ancient peoples," Ganev said.

Hong Hai, director of the China Cultural Center in Sofia, said in turn that the center has carefully planned a series of events aimed at showing the beauty of the Mid-Autumn Festival and conveying the profound and elegant cultural content expressed in this festival.

  - Xinhua