Against a backdrop of Beijing's landmark Temple of Heaven two African singers in traditional costumes held hands with Chinese artists wearing scarlet traditional style jackets singing in chorus a decades-old song in commemoration of late leader Mao Zedong.

Around them a group of danced to the music spreading out butterfly-shaped silk fans that present a scene of festivity.

Almost 400 Chinese and African artists staged a gala performance themed on "Ode to Friendship" Saturday night at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, after a day of handshakes, whirlwind meetings and a welcoming banquet given by Chinese President Hu Jintao and his wife Liu Yongqing.

An audience of at least 2,000 applauded when a team of young Chinese artists who opened the gala at 8:15 p.m. with red lanterns that lit up, one after another, to spell out in English ¡°Welcome to China".

In the audience were Hu Jintao, the Chairman of the Commission of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare and more than 40 African leaders who are in the city for the two-day Beijing Summit, the biggest ever such event between Chinese and African leaders.

"I know Africa and China have been helping each other like close friends since the time Mao founded New China," Augustine Dondo, a 33-year-old singer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, told Xinhua through an interpreter.

From the traditional Peking Opera, upbeat tropical dance and drum to acrobatics, African and Chinese artists took turns demonstrating their skills and own cultures.

"It's a dialogue between the two ancient civilizations as well as an exhibition of China-Africa cultural exchanges," said Tang Wenjuan, director of the gala.

1

2