Music that brims with the joys of spring

The Chinese pianist Xiao Di is a big part of Spring Festival in the UK, Xing Yi reports in London

After living in the United Kingdom for almost 20 years the pianist Xiao Di is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, but music is the best language for promoting understanding between people and cultures, she says.

During each Spring Festival since 2012 Xiao has held a concert in the Elgar Concert Hall in Birmingham, in the English Midlands, known as the Didi & Friends Chinese New Year Celebration.

The concert series involves musicians from different genres giving performances at an event that mixes Chinese culture with Western music, offering British audiences another way to celebrate the traditional Chinese festival.