SANFORD - Exciting and colorful Chinese traditional music and dance light up the stage at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center Sunday, March 26, as Central Carolina Community College presents a performing troupe from Shanxi University, People's Republic of China.

Admission to the show is free, a gift to the community. The performance starts at 3 p.m. in the Civic Center, 1801 Nash St., Sanford.

The Shanxi University performance is part of an ongoing series of Chinese cultural performances and exhibitions brought to Sanford through the college's Confucius Classroom. The Classroom is a partnership with North Carolina State University's Confucius Institute, which works with the Chinese government to bring performing troupes from China.

In 2009, CCCC was the first community college in the nation to establish a Confucius Classroom.

"Our Confucius Classroom enables the college to prepare our students for living and working in a global economy," said CCCC President T. Eston Marchant, who brought the idea for the Classroom to the college when he became president in 2008. "It helps link our central North Carolina communities, governments, and businesses to China. Being able to host these superb performances is a major cultural bonus that connects the people of our nations in a very positive way."

Shanxi University is located in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, about 300 miles southwest of Beijing. The university was founded in 1902, one of the earliest national universities to be established in China.

For more information, or for groups of larger than 12 that plan to attend, contact confucius@cccc.edu.