Year of the Tiger in Valletta

It may be a date occupied by Valentine's Day and carnival but the Chinese Year of the Tiger will start on February 14 and Valletta is celebrating it too.

"In China, the Spring Festival (as the new year festival is known) is a time of hope; a time for family, where people go back to their relatives for the festival," Chinese ambassador Zhang Keyuan said.

"The earth will witness the biggest migration on the Chinese new year, when all the Chinese go back to their family," he joked during the launch of the festival activities in Malta at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Melita Street, Valletta.

The activities kicked off yesterday with Mr Zhang opening a travelling exhibition of oil paintings by Chinese art students, currently on display at the cultural centre.

People visiting Valletta on February 8 at 10.30 a.m. will get a taste of the festival, where a group of performers, brought over especially for the occasion, will be performing the Lion Dance, Chinese Kung Fu and a puppetry show in St George's Square.

A parade will follow through Republic Street up to the Upper Barrakka Gardens.

The following day, 30 artistes handpicked from the China National Acrobatic Troupe, the Beijing Dance Academy and the Beijing Opera and Dance-Drama Company will stage a show at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, at 8 p.m.

The show promises to be a celebration of China's best, featuring acrobats balancing on one hand - a routine that won a golden award in an art festival in Italy - as well as Kung Fu, dance routines and drama.

This is the fourth time the festival is being held in Malta and the event will be accompanied by a visiting cultural delegation that includes eight Beijing journalists on a cultural exchange.

The events are being organised in collaboration with the Valletta council and the MCC.

The festival is to China what Christmas is to the West, and is a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation for around 4,000 years.

The high point is New Year's Eve, where families get together for a lavish dinner and stay up to usher in the new year.

And with carnival being just days away from the festival, it seems Malta has another fine time to party.