Festival celebrates important Chinese holiday
On Oct. 7, the Confucius Institute (CI) of UC Davis held its annual Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at the International Center. Although the event required registration beforehand, it was free for students as well as members of the public.
The CI is a unit of Global Affairs, which seeks to introduce international culture to the Davis community. Every year, the CI puts on a multi-performance festivity to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional harvest-time celebration “observed at the time of year when the moon is at its roundest and brightest,” according to the event’s webpage.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important celebration in Chinese culture,” said CI Director Michelle Yeh.
This year, the festival featured a number of performances, including a zither solo –– a traditional Chinese instrument –– by a Davis High school student, a martial arts performance by the Davis Wushu Club as well as two symphonies performed by the Great River Chinese Musical Ensemble. Each performance showcased a part of Chinese legend or culture.
“I think [the Mid-Autumn Festival] is a pretty good overview of Chinese traditional entertainment and culture,” said third-year linguistics and Chinese double major Ellie Wan, who volunteered at the event. “It’s great to have a lot of people from different ethnicities get a taste of what Chinese festivals are like.”
At the end of the performances, audience members also got to enjoy a buffet with traditional Chinese delicacies such as egg rolls and mooncakes.
“The festival symbolizes families getting together during times of harvest and is an opportunity for friends and families to express their love and longing for each other,” said Kate Zhang, one of the masters of ceremony at the event. “For many Chinese people living overseas, it’s an opportunity to express their longing for home. For people of other cultures, it’s a chance to learn about Chinese culture.”
The CI also holds many other events throughout the year, including cooking workshops, Chinese painting and calligraphy classes and tea culture lectures.
Written by: Clara Zhao –– campus@theaggie.org
