PHOTO | Tara Espinoza
After changes the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Mid-Autumn Festival returned as an outdoor event Sept. 8 at the Bell Tower.
This event was held to promote the traditional Chinese festival, to let more people from different cultural backgrounds understand Chinese culture, and to publicize and promote the image of the country,” Yixi Liu of Guangzhou, China, and president of the Chinse Student Association, said.
“Chinese international students need an opportunity to spread their culture and traditions to the ATU campus, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a homesick festival for overseas travelers. And we hope that the festival will bring Chinese students together and reunite together,” Liu said.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is an opportunity for people from all over the world to experience the charm of traditional Chinese festivals, enjoy the moon and share moon cakes with us.”
The International and Multicultural student Services Office co-sponsored the event with the CSA.
Activities at the festival last week included free mooncakes for visiting students and locals, lantern painting, fan painting and more, along with prizes for guests in painting competition.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is an important annual festival in China, because the moon on Aug. 15 of the Chinese lunar calendar is the most beautiful, largest, and roundest in the year. The word “full moon” also means “reunion” in Chinese.
In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival will include people dining with their relatives or friends, and many people who work outside their hometowns return home to reunite with their parents. After dinner, they would put fruit and moon cakes on the table and chat under the full moon.
Because the Mid-Autumn Festival has the custom of eating moon cakes, many people also call it the Moon Cake Festival.
