By Chen Lihua

    KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The 2007 "Guangxi Culture Vessel" programs officially kicked off here Thursday night, bringing songs and dances for the Malaysian audience from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China.

    Malaysia's national theater, Istana Budaya, located at downtown Kuala Lumpur, was a packed one Thursday night as local audience arrived there for the "Charming Guangxi" ethnic song and dance performance, staged by Sister Liu Sanjie Art Groupe of Guangxi.

    Among the distinguished guests who watched the performance were Malaysian Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Rais Yatim, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Cheng Yonghua, Vice Chairman of Guangxi Li Jinzao and President of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association Abdul Majid.

    The performance was a mixture of songs, dances, acrobatics as well as ethnic costume show, displaying the charming Guangxi to the audience aboard the culture vessel.

    During the two-hour-long performance, the audience, when getting excited, would clapped their hands in time to the music; when those girls and lads demonstrated their admirable acrobatic skills on stage, the audience never failed to respond with warm applause.

    The program for that night was carefully-chosen. It offered not only unique Guangxi folk dances but also traditional Chinese music. As the annual China-ASEAN Expo is held in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, the theme song for the expo, "Together Forever", as well as a group dance "Footsteps of Love" were on the list to demonstrate the close ties between Guangxi and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

    The group dance "Footsteps of Love" turned out to be extra popular. Created specially for the Commemorative Summit marking the 15th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations held last year in Nanning, the dance features striking elements from traditional dances of China and all the ten ASEAN member countries.

    When those guests coming far from China begun to perform traditional Malay dances, local audience gave a big hand out of appreciation and understanding.

    Thursday night's performance was co-sponsored by the Guangxi government and the Malaysian Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage. Other programs under the banner of the "Guangxi Culture Vessel" include a painting exhibition and tourism promotion activities.

    Organizers hope that the "Guangxi Culture Vessel" programs could help introduce the Malaysian people to the cultural and natural charm of Guangxi and foster closer ties between Guangxi and Malaysia.