To celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Germany, Germany has officially recognized 2012 as the “Year of Chinese Culture". Germany is celebrating China with a series of cultural activities including an "Anhui Week" celebration. To launch the event, art troupes from Anhui province presented a marvelous stage show on Monday night for audiences in Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony.

The event brought violins and cellos together with Chinese flutes and pipas. Musicians from China and Germany opened the evening gala with a mixed repertoire, including some German folk songs performed by Chinese traditional musical instruments.

During the cultural week, an exhibition of artwork from Anhui will be installed at Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, featuring large calligraphy works, water-and-ink paintings and landscape photos.

Eight craftsmen were invited from Anhui to present live demonstrations of papercutting, ink making and seal carving.

A staff member from Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts said, "It's such an impressive exhibition. It's a remote culture to me as a German, but when it's introduced in an exhibition like this, I can easily tell how great and inclusive Chinese culture is."

A Hannover Industrial & Trade Association board member said, "Economics and culture are like two sides of a coin. People cannot live without either one of them, and they benefit each other. We are not only aiming to build great machines, we are here for great culture as well."

The Federal State of Lower Saxony has enjoyed over 28 years of partnership with Anhui province on several aspects, including manufacturing, electronic engineering, eco-friendly energy projects and several university exchange programs. During "Anhui Week", more cooperative projects are scheduled between the two sides.

As part of the celebration on the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Germany, 2012 is officially recognized as "the Year of Chinese Culture" in Germany.

As part of the celebration on the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Germany, 2012 is officially recognized as "the Year of Chinese Culture" in Germany.