By Greg Hugh
The Mall of America, in partnership with many local Chinese and other Asian organizations recently hosted a Moon Festival Celebration event at Mall of America where the Huntington Rotunda was colorfully decorated with festive lanterns.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋节) in Chinese, also known as the Mooncake Festival or Moon Festival, is one of China’s biggest holidays. The festival is a joyous celebration with family reunions, mooncakes, parades, and lanterns.
As you may know, China has over 10 million of Hmong people living in several southern autonomous counties, closer to Vietnam, Laos etc. Many of Minnesota Hmong people have visited China in the past 10 years. A great variety of performing organizations and individuals from the local Chinese community performed at the Moon Festival celebrations with Minnesota Hmong, Lao and Vietnam and other ethnic communities. By bringing these artists from local Chinese and ethnic artists together at the Mall of America, the audience was able to share cultural performances and experience each other’s heritage and culture.
The celebration began with a traditional dragon dance and welcome comments from invited guests from federal, state and other representatives from government and community organizations either in person or by video presentations.
During this year’s celebration, some cultural and traditional items such as brush writing and paper cutting were included. These activities provided an opportunity for the participants to learn something about Chinese culture. Thus, these activities added an extra dimension to a full day of performances on the main stage a great way for the community at large to celebrate a very traditional Chinese holiday.
(Photo credit: Gongping Liu, Will Ahern and AMCO)