The northern Portuguese city of Aveiro celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, a Chinese tradition, at the weekend, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency says the purpose was to strengthen Sino-Portuguese cultural ties.

The report says the celebrations were arranged jointly by the Confucius Institute at the University of Aveiro and the city government.

The celebratory events included a display of dragon boat paddling, a dragon dance, an exhibition of folk art, and demonstrations of Chinese calligraphy, the Chinese tea ceremony, martial arts and how to make rice dumplings called zongzi.

The events gave the people of Aveiro a chance to learn about Chinese culture, Xinhua quotes city official Catarina Barreto as saying.