A TEESSIDE group has been celebrating the Chinese New Year in style - in China.

The Wildcats of Kilkenny went down so well at a musical carnival in Beijing, they have been invited back to play a concert in September in the Forbidden City - the 15th Century palace from which 24 Emperors ruled China.

The Wildcats were invited by the Chinese Government to play at last month's International Spring Festival.

Former Middlesbrough barmaid Nicola Harkin, now living in Beijing with her husband Francis, heard festival organisers were looking for a Western band playing Irish music, to complete an international line-up and remembered the Wildcats from her days working behind the bar at The Princess Alice (formerly O'Neill's).

They also introduced a couple of Riverside Stadium sing-alongs to the proceedings.

Violinist and vocalist Mike McGrother said: "It was amazing. We were on the front page of China Today, which gets pinned to notice boards on every street. So whenever I went out of the hotel, I saw my face looking back at me."

The Wildcats also helped raise the equivalent of £10,000 for Hui Ling - an arts-based school for adults with learning difficulties.

Mike said: "It was a very humbling experience because they really have nothing over there. They gave us tea and sunflower seeds, and that was a major deal for them. They also sang us Auld Lang Syne, so we got them on stage at the gig."

Mike, colleagues Andrew McIntyre, Bruce Rollo and Simon Wigington, are hoping to forge a strong musical connection between China and North-East bands.

"The Chinese said they want more groups from England. If we can get good strong links between the North-East and China, it would be fantastic,'' Mike said at the weekend.

The band is getting ready to celebrate their success with a traditional St Patrick's Day knees-up at Middlesbrough Town Hall on Saturday.