SOFIA, April 12 (Xinhua) --  This year's United Nations Chinese Language Day was celebrated in  Bulgaria on Saturday alongside the sixth edition of the Chinese singing  contest "Rose Melodies."

Organized by the Confucius Institute in  Sofia, the event brought together 15 solo performers and nine group acts  from across the country.

Eighteen-year-old Kalina Momchilova  from Sofia took first place in the individual category, while the teen  quartet "Scarlet Sorghum" from the town of Stara Zagora won the group  category.

Momchilova shared that she began studying Chinese at  the age of 14, and her passion for the language has only deepened over  time. "My interest in the people, the culture-absolutely every part of  Chinese life-has grown significantly," she said.

Guan Xin,  cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Sofia, said the singing  performances not only captured the melody of the Chinese language but  also conveyed the emotions of the Chinese people, highlighting the deep  cultural resonance between the two nations.

Chen Ying, the  Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, and Aksiniya  Koleva, the Bulgarian director, emphasized that UN Chinese Language Day  is dedicated to celebrating the language as a bridge between peoples and  cultures, with the song contest serving as a natural extension of that  mission. Enditem