This year's Chinese Culture Festival in Russia kicked off with a grand opening gala in Moscow on Monday. Meanwhile, a Chinese book store has also opened in the capital city, making it the first of its kind in the country.

This year's Chinese Culture Festival in Russia kicked off with a grand opening gala in Moscow on Monday.

At the opening gala of this year's Chinese Culture Festival in Russia, audiences enjoyed various demonstrations of all things traditionally and culturally Chinese. From calligraphy, and a tea ceremony,  to Kung Fu, and folk dances. 

China and Russia have a long history of culture exchanges and have been hosting cultural festivals regularly since the 1990s.

This year's festival will feature musical concerts, dance performances, theatrical plays as well as kung fu workshops for the people of Russia. 

Organizers hope the event can further help promote friendship between the youths of the two countries and encourage the participation of the local and non-governmental sectors.

This year's Chinese Culture Festival in Russia kicked off with a grand opening gala in Moscow on Monday.

Meanwhile a Chinese book store, the very first of its kind in the country, opened in Moscow on Monday. 

The 2000-square-meter shop provides readers with 5 thousand kinds of Chinese books, covering diverse categories such as science, humanities, culture, arts and education. 

The owner of the bookstore says that his shop will serve as a platform for cultural communication and plans on translating more masterpieces of Chinese literature and best-sellers into Russian,  and introduce them to Russian readers.