China celebrates 70th anniversary in Scotland

Next year Chinese audiences will have the chance to see the signature Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo coming to China, "it is a major cultural step forward for the China-Scottish culture exchange", said Frank Ross, lord provost of the City of Edinburgh.

"The China-Scottish cooperation and collaboration... has contributed to our culture, our economy and our sustainability," Ross said.

Another testament to the ever deepening China-Scottish relationship is the continuing influx of Chinese students to pursue their study at Scottish higher education institutions; there are currently more than 20,000 Chinese students at Scottish universities while Chinese language has become increasingly popular in Scotland with help of Confucius institutes and classrooms.

"There are five Confucius Institutes and 44 Confucius Classrooms all over Scotland, reaching as far as Shetland Islands," said Hou, while the total number of Scots learning Chinese have surpassed 50,000.

"The popularity of Chinese language has opened a window for Scottish people to learn and understand China," she added.

Two photo exhibitions were held on the sidelines of the reception, showing visitors China's tremendous achievements in the past seven decades and rarely seen natural landscape.