World Tai Chi Day marked online in Malta

VALLETTA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The China Cultural Center in Malta organized an online event Saturday to celebrate World Tai Chi Day, attracting many Maltese Tai Chi enthusiasts to participate.

Tai Chi, a centuries-old Chinese martial art characterized by gentle movement exercises, has been widely accepted by people around the world.

The event featured Wang Zhanjun, the founder of a Tai Chi school from central China's Henan province, teaching Tai Chi via the internet, and the school's students presenting shows combining Tai Chi with the dance of Shuixiu, literally Water Sleeves, one of the most skillful stunts in Chinese Peking Opera.

The Malta Tai Chi Yang Family Club, the Malta School of Wushu, the Malta Martial Arts Association and the Mediterranean Traditional Chinese Medicine Center also practiced Taiji for the online event.

"I am a firm believer that Tai Chi has many positive aspects," said Clifton Grima, Parliamentary Secretary for Sports, Recreation and Voluntary Organizations, adding that "we are using online technology in order to ensure that this art gets to the house of people who would like to practice this marvelous art."

"I look very much forward towards further collaboration between our two countries, which, though being located in different continents, are connected due to their historical aspects," he noted.

World Tai Chi Day, which falls on the last Saturday of April, has been celebrated in Malta for 14 consecutive years, according to Yang Xiaolong, director of the China Cultural Center in Malta.