AN EXHIBITION to celebrate Chinese culture is taking place this week (July 1).

Community radio station, Unity 101 and The Chinese Association of Southampton have come together to create a Chinese Festival exhibition as part of the Unity Art show.

Unity Arts Studio was inspired by the city’s diverse community and the event has initially focused on minority groups including: Caribbean, Indian and Polish.

"We are really grateful that Kelly gave us the opportunity to showcase our culture and share it with others," said Vice Chancellor of the Chinese Association, Andy Lai.

Chinese people came to live in Southampton city more than 100 years ago.

They came from all over the world including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malay, Singapore and Taiwan.

Originally Chinese people used to work in the laundry and catering business, today, you can find Chinese people working in a variety of professions, including the police force, law and accountancy firms, banking corporations, medical and public services.

The exhibition will focus on Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is according to the lunar calendar, on the 15th day of the 8th month - It is the second grandest festival in China after the Chinese New Year.

The day is also known as the Moon Festival, as at that time of the year the moon is at its clearest and brightest. Chinese people will get together to celebrate it by eating moon cakes and round fruit and vegetables.

There will be art work as well as Chinese artifacts as well as traditional tea at the exhibition, which begins this Saturday and will last a month.

"The oldest artist there will be 77-years-old and the youngest will be 20.

"It is only a community level exhibition but I would be very surprised if visitors weren't impressed," said Mr Lai.