The fire monkey, whose birth will be celebrated when the Chinese new year begins on February 8, is an imaginative creature, fascinating and full of fun and vitality. In the writings of Chinese astrology, the monkey is creative, flamboyant and dynamic.

So 2016 is an auspicious year for the Chinese Music Orchestra's first Australian tour, which begins at the Adelaide Festival on February 18. The orchestra then play at Sydney's City Recital Hall on Saturday, February 20, and at Llewellyn Hall in Canberra on Monday, February 22.

Formed over 50 years ago as part of China National Opera and Dance Theatre, the orchestra will be conducted by Hong Xia, who has performed concerts throughout China and in Taiwan and Macao. In 2010 she conducted the New Year's Concert at the Sydney Town Hall. She is known for her rigorous and expressive style, musical passion and ability to move easily between Chinese and Western music, classical and modern music and traditional and symphonic works.

Using a combination of Western and Eastern instruments, the 43 instrumentalists play traditional Chinese music. Be prepared to hear the haunting sounds of the erhu, the guzheng, the yangqin, the lusheng and the pipa as well as cellos and drums.

The erhu, a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, has become more familiar to Western audiences in recent years. It is known as "the Chinese fiddle" and its plaintive notes are sometimes heard drifting across the Circular Quay promenade in Sydney. The guzheng is a Chinese-plucked zither and the yangqin a type of hammered dulcimer that had its origins in ancient Persia. The lusheng, one of the oldest of Chinese instruments, is a mouth-blown reed instrument and the pipa or Chinese lute is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played in China for almost 2000 years.

Last year a pipa soloist gave a recital at the Albert Hall in Canberra. Cindy Xin, the Australian representative of Ausfeng, the promoter of the orchestra's tour, says, "It was a concert for 200 people who very much enjoyed hearing this unique instrument."

Xin says, "Australian audiences will like to hear the orchestra perform on this tour, playing all the classics of Chinese music. You don't need a preliminary understanding of Chinese music to enjoy the concerts; you can just enjoy the unique artistic style."

The concert will begin with a piece of traditional Chinese orchestral music, Spring Festival Overture, "inspired by the tones and rhythms of traditional Chinese folk dance".

The romantic Butterfly Lovers' Fantasia, featuring the gaohu, a two-stringed fiddle, will follow and then, with a complete change of atmosphere, the orchestra will perform a well-known composition for lusheng and orchestra, Train Arriving at Dong Village. The lusheng has the ability to mimic many different sounds and in this piece it imitates the train whistling joyfully as it passes through tunnels and valleys.

As the concert continues the audience will hear many different representations of traditional Chinese life.

Watch the Yangge tells the story of two sisters who brave the rain to watch a rice-planting ceremony; Deep in the Night is a powerful and passionate piece derived from Peking opera pieces; Hero of the Mountain tells of the land of heroes, Guangxi, surrounded by vast and imposing mountain ranges.

To really acquaint the audience with traditional Chinese instruments, a traditional Chinese orchestral piece, How Much Do You Know About Chinese Wind and Stringed Instruments?, will be played. It takes the form of an ensemble with solos by wind instruments, plucked instruments, percussion and bowed instruments with individual instruments explained in detail.

Treasures of the Nation is an apt title for this concert and Xin says that as you listen to these beautiful Chinese musical stories you will come to understand Chinese culture and folk music.