Chinese New Year gala show dazzles Canadians

by Mark Bourrie, Yang Shilong

OTTAWA, Jan. 6 -- Dancing with hula hoops shaped like silver snakes, hula hoop world record holder Jin Linlin dazzled Ottawanians with her incredible performance here on Wednesday.

Jin is part of Carnival China Style, a 65-member all-star troupe that is on a 20-day North American tour to celebrate the New Year and promote cultural exchanges between China and the United States and Canada.

Ottawa was the troupe's second stop in Canada after the Chinese artists thrilled 2,600 people at Roy Thompson Hall in downtown Toronto on Sunday.

The troupe specializes in ancient Chinese musical instruments, singing styles, forms of dance and costumes from many Chinese minorities and historical periods. Some of the musical instruments date back to the time of Confucius.

The performers are representatives of a variety of Chinese ethnic arts from Han, Uygur, Mongolia, Tibetan, Miao, Yi and other regions, according to head of the troupe Chen Mai, who is also minister of the Cultural Department at the All China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.

"The program not only entertains Chinese people living in North America, it also helps non-Chinese people understand Chinese culture," Chen told Xinhua.

The tour was part of a series of cultural exchanges between China and Canada to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, he said.

Officials from the Chinese embassy at Ottawa spoke highly of the recent trip by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to China, saying it helped improve business, cultural and political links between the two countries.

They said they expected more frequent exchanges by artists and musicians through the year, given Canada will host the Winter Olympics in February and China the World Expo from May.

Canadian government member of parliament Pierre Polievre said the government had begun a process to accelerate the recognition of foreign credentials in Canada.

Many Chinese immigrants, along with newcomers from other countries, have been frustrated by Canada's unwillingness to recognize many engineering, medical and academic qualifications.

Noting that thousands of Canadians visited China during the Beijing Olympics in 2008, opposition MP Paul Dewar said he welcomed Chinese cultural exchanges and expected more Olympic-year events.

Rudy Gao, president of Blue Sky Media, which organized the Canadian segment of the Carnival China Style tour, said Canadians appreciated Chinese culture, especially live shows.

"To see it is to believe it," Gao said.

Meanwhile, people at Ottawa's show were amazed by the outstanding musical, dancing and acrobatic performances.

"I thought it was amazing," said a local, Jack McCarthy. "It was a great combination of old and new, the traditional dances and the modern musical styles."

"I didn't know what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the music, the dance, the costumes, (and) everything," he added.