Duan Jielong, the Chinese ambassador to Hungary and Mr. Wu Hua, the head of the embassy's education team, attended the event. The directors of four Confucius Institutes and Bilingual Schools in Hungary, as well as Chinese language teachers and volunteers were present, celebrating the coming Chinese New Year of the Dog.

The opening show, a dance performance Liyizhibang (A Nation of Etiquette) along with a show of Chinese calligraphy performed by the teachers from the Confucius Institute at the University of Miskolc, kicked off the New Year celebrations.

After the performance, Mr. Duan Jielong delivered a speech on behalf of the Chinese embassy in Hungary. He emphasized the long history of Chinese-Hungarian communication and the increasingly important role played by Confucius Institutes in China-Hungary relations The Chinese teachers and volunteers, as non-official ambassadors for introducing Chinese culture to Hungary, are the "unsung Heroes". He expressed his full appreciation for the work of the directors and all the teachers of the four Confucius Institutes in Hungary. The ambassador also extended his sincere New Year best wishes to everyone “I wish you all a prosperous and healthy year of the dog”.

Later, Professor Betlehem József, the director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Pécs, delivered a speech on behalf of all the Confucius Institutes. Stressing the positive progress made in the China-Hungary elations over the past year, and the fruitful educational exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, he thanked the teachers for their contributions to the promotion of Chinese language and culture. At the end of his speech, he expressed his best wishes for the New Year in Chinese.

Finally, the head of the embassy's education team, Mr. Wu Hua, made his speech. He thanked all the staff of the Confucius Institutes for their hard work over the past year and hoped that the teachers would continue their efforts in order to make further progress in promoting friendly and cooperative relations between China and Hungary.

During the gala, the Chinese teachers and volunteers from the four Confucius Institutes put on wonderful performances. The reception reached its climax when the Chinese director and all the Chinese teachers and volunteers from the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged presented in chorus the extremely popular song for the occasion, Nan Wang Jin Xiao (An Unforgettable Night)", demonstrating a spirit of solidarity and harmony that resonated with all those present. Just as the lyric goes in the song, "no matter how far away we are, we all have the same wish: the prosperity of our motherland".

The reception thus ended in a lively and congenial note. It was generally hoped that the promotion of communication between the Confucius Institutes in Hungary will further enhance the quality of Chinese language teaching and the promotion of Chinese culture in Hungary. (Qianwen Chen/ Feiya Suo)