Irish boy band Westlife, most famous to Chinese fans for its chart-topping tracks My Love and Seasons in the Sun, brought its new album Face to Face to Beijing on Monday afternoon.

Westlife is one of the most popular singing groups on the world's music stage nowadays, and this time its new album well reveals the group's true quality with its theme song You Raise Me Up having topped the British music charts for many weeks after its release.

The four members, Shane, Mark, Nicky and Kian, appeared at a press conference in the Chinese capital yesterday, which was attended by thousands of excited fans and local media.

The lovely boys even had a try at Chinese calligraphy. Although they did calligraphy for the first time, they were highly praised with thundering applause, fans calling them "good handwritings" after they wrote the name of their group in Chinese, "Xi Cheng Nan Hai."

The boys will come to China again for about two weeks later this year to do some promotion for the new album, Face to Face, in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou and Kunming. 

(CRI March 7, 2006)