Sino-Bulgarian yogurt festival resumes after 3-year break

Ti Gong

A hanfu (traditional Han-style clothes) runway show has been held in Bulgaria as part of a Sino-Bulgaria yogurt festival, which returned this month after a three-year break caused by COVID.

The festival, launched in 2015, returned to Momchilovtsi, probably the most-known Bulgarian village to Chinese residents because of a popular yogurt brand sold here under the same name.

Momchilovtsi is hailed as a village of longevity, where 32 of every 100,000 people are centenarians, and the local yogurt is thought to be a reason for this. Shanghai-based Bright Dairy brought the bacteria found in the local yogurt back to China and promoted it in the domestic market in 2009.

During this year's festival, which wrapped up last Sunday, 13 Bulgarian women wore traditional hanfu as they competed for the title of "Yogurt Queen".

Ti Gong

Six flower-shaped traditional Chinese hairpins made from wool were sent as gifts to the village and are currently on display in a local museum.

A Chinese language class held in partnership with the Confucius Institute in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, was also provided during the festival.

Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Dong Xiaojun, who attended the festival, said yogurt and roses have become symbols of Bulgaria in China, and he expected to deepen economic and cultural exchanges between two countries via the yogurt festival.

Local villagers said they had developed a consuming passion for Chinese culture, and they were looking forward to travelling to China.

Bulgaria established diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China on October 4, 1949, becoming the second country to recognize the PRC. A strategic partnership between the two countries was formed in July 2019.

In 2016, Shanghai and Sofia became sister cities.

Ti Gong