Sponsored by the Confucius Institute Headquarters （Hanban）, HUST Student Music Troupe gave a tour performance concerning Chinese culture and arts at 7 Confucius Institutes and 4 Confucius Classes in New Zealand and Australia from Sep. 5th to Sep. 18th.

The performance is part of the first “Chinese language week” held by New Zealand in 2015. Hon Peter Dunne （internal Affairs Minister of New Zealand）, Nicky Wagner （Customs Minister）, Andrew Little （leader of the Labor Party）, Poto Williams （member of parliament）, Neil Quigly （president of the University of Waikato）, Wang Lutong （Chinese ambassador to New Zealand）, Chenyue （counsellor for education）, Jin Zhijian, （Chinese consul General in Christchurch）, Zhao Jiang （counsellor for education Chinese Consulate General in Melbourne） addressed and watched the performance. Yaozai, dean of Confucius Institute in Auckland read the letter of congratulation in which Xulin, the head of Confucius Institute Headquarters （Hanban）, expected the tour a complete success.

To spread Chinese culture through moving stories is what the performance devotes to .With the theme “A River in Distant East”, the musical dance started from ancient legends about the Yangzi River and the Yellow River, showing diversified lives of ethnic groups along Yangtze River and their unique culture with water.

 “Lofty Mountain and Fowing Water”, a show of “Guzheng （a traditional Chinese instrument）” solo and double dance, told a story about faithful friendship, hoping that remote “flowing water” from China can find bosom friend in Oceania. “Chu style Taiji （a traditional Chinese shadowing boxing）”, a classical dance, showed the beauty combined with both hardness and softness. “Xun”, as one of the most ancient music instruments, together with Pipa （served best as a Chinese instrument to express dramatic feelings） were chosen to play a piece of wonderful music. Moreover, “Guzheng” and cello were used to perform “Beautiful Night”, showed the unique charm of the combination of both Chinese and western instruments.

The dance Fragrant River tells the story of Princess Wang Zhaojun （52-15B.C） of Han Dynasty sacrificing her marriage to the Hunnish King in far north of China in ancient time for a temporary boarder tranquility for the Han empire. Love Song of Tu Ethnics and Love Song on Qing River describes with colorful dresses and melodies a picturesque lyric life of minority ethnics along the up-reach of Yangzi River. Sole The Song of Yangzi River expresses the best wishes of Chinese people embracing the world.

Some funny interacting parts including Taiji on-stage learning, Hulusi playing （a Chinese instrument） and paper-tearing were interwoven, which stimulated greatly the audiences’ interest to know more about Chinese culture.

The tour was co-hosted by Confucius Institute at University of Canterbury （co-established with HUST）, Confucius Institute in Auckland （co-established with Fudan University）, Confucius Institute at Victoria University of Wellington （co-established with Xiamen University）, Confucius Institute at the University of Western Australia （co-established with Zhejiang University）, Confucius Institute at the University of Melbourne （co-established with Nanjing University）, Confucius Institute at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology （co-established with Nanjing University Of Chinese Medicine） and Confucius Institute at La Trobe University （co-established with Chongqing University）.

Xinhua News Agency, Phoenix Satellite Television, Oceanian Chinese TV and Radio New Zealand reported the tour performance.