Chinese song contest held in Russia's St. Petersburg

The Confucius Classroom in Russia's northern capital of St. Petersburg on Sunday played host to the fourth edition of the local Chinese Song Contest, giving participants a chance to show off their Chinese language skills.

This year's contest represented a step-up on previous editions in terms of both form and content, local Confucius Classroom head Han Danxing said.

In the lead-up to the competition, the organizing committee collected a series of China-themed local artworks for display at the event, giving guests a strong sense of the friendly ties between Russia and China.

A total of 11 children and seven adult entries registered for the contest. In the children's section, young Alexey stole the show with his superb Chinese pronunciation and dancing skills in an emotional performance of "Yilian," while many of the Chinese exchange students in attendance joined in for the chorus of Kopneva's winning rendition of "In My Voice" in the adult section.

In a colorful addition to the Chinese Song Contest, this year's event also featured a Russian Song Contest for native speakers of Chinese.