Performers from Wuxi Song and Dance Drama Theater offer a Jiangnan-style dance at the 21st Brisbane Chinese Culture and Art Festival. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxishilvyouju]

The 21st Brisbane Chinese Culture and Art Festival kicked off in Brisbane, Australia, on Nov 25 and artists from the two countries, including those from Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province, offered splendid performances.

The Jiangnan-style dances and songs presented by Wuxi Song and Dance Drama Theater and the suona masterpiece Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix by the Chinese Orchestra of Wuxi fully demonstrated the cultural charm of China's Jiangnan region.

A suona player from the Chinese Orchestra of Wuxi performs the masterpiece Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxishilvyouju]

Ya Fen, Wuxi-born soprano as well as an ambassador of cultural exchanges between China and Australia, performed a song and dance with dancers from the Wuxi Song and Dance Drama Theater.

The festival was sponsored by the Mainland Chinese Society of Queensland and subsidized by the state government of Queensland and the municipal government of Brisbane.

Since its first edition in 1998, the festival, with different themes each year, has invited outstanding art troupes and artists from around the world to participate and planned a slate of cultural and trade exchanges and exhibitions.

This year, the event attracted more than 1,300 people, including Ruan Zongze, consul general of China in Brisbane, and State Senator James Martin to watch the performance at the opening ceremony.