Douglas Gautier, CEO and artistic director of Adelaide Festival Centre, presents a bouquet to the female orchestra for their wonderful performance in Adelaide, Australia on Jan 21. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

An all-female orchestra performing traditional Chinese music has become a hit in Australia since they started a tour of the country on Jan 20.

The orchestra from Zhejiang Song and Dance Theatre presented delightful performances in Sydney on Jan 20 and Adelaide on Jan 21, to extend their Chinese New Year's greetings to the country's overseas Chinese residents and the rest of Australia.

This year's Chinese New Year Lantern Festival in Sydney kicked off on Jan 20, and the female orchestra also showcased their talent at the opening ceremony.

The female musicians have captivated the crowd at the ceremony with their renditions of traditional Jiangnan sizhu pieces, a style of folk music played with Chinese traditional string (si) and woodwind (zhu) instruments that originated in Jiangnan, the region south of the Yangtze River Delta in East China.

The troupe from Zhejiang enchanted the audience in Sydney with their graceful performance and mastery of traditional instruments such as the sheng (a woodwind instrument), banhu (two-stringed spike fiddle) and erhu (two-stringed bowed instrument), among others.

A Chinese temple fair featuring food from across the country was held alongside the opening ceremony. Beautiful lanterns were hung above the heads of the audience, creating a festive atmosphere.

The orchestra also got a big reaction from the audience in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. When the troupe struck up the melody of a popular Australian song, a huge cheer sounded and people in the concert hall started to beat time to the music. The show drew big applause from local people and was praised for its surprises that came one after another.

The tour has so far been another big success for the group from Zhejiang, which has previously performed traditional Chinese music in many countries around the world on behalf of the province, and even China as a whole.

Local people pack into the concert hall in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, to see the female orchestra's performance on Jan 21. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]