Featuring high quality performances of traditional Chinese culture, The Ode To The Moon Festival Gala was held between New Zealand and China at the New Zealand National Museum on Sunday night to celebrate this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

The gala, co-hosted by the China Cultural Center in Wellington, the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism and the Chongqing International Culture and Tourism Exchange Center, was part of the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism.

Artists from Southwest China's Chongqing Three Gorges Operatic Troupe presented the Wellington audience with traditional performances including Sichuan Opera with face-changing, a pipa solo and a stunning magic show.

The performances by the Chinese artists were the perfect demonstration of the charm of Chinese traditional culture and art. 

During the performance, applause and cheers came one after another from the delighted audience.

Guo Zongguang, director of the China Cultural Center in New Zealand, stressed that the show was one of the most important events among this year's series of cultural exchanges between China and New Zealand.

"Our Ode to the Moon series is one of the three 'tentpole' events in our yearly calendar, along with Happy Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year and China Culture Week in the middle of the year. The Ode to the Moon series of events are simultaneously celebrated by nearly 40 other China cultural centers around the world, helping connect and bring us all closer," said Guo.

Brett Hudson, a member of New Zealand's Parliament, acknowledged that China, now the country's largest trading partner, provide New Zealanders with "thousands and thousands of jobs." 

"Our relationship with China is extremely important. Our two-way trade topped 28 billion New Zealand dollars ($17.86 billion) in 2018, that is thousands and thousands of jobs for New Zealanders to improve lifestyles for families, because we have a strong relationship, and it is strengthening even further through cultural exchange and better understanding of one another," Hudson said.

The Moon Festival, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, is a harvest festival celebrated in China and usually falls in September or October, on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar.