In true college fashion, the evening’s main attraction and first order of business were the mooncakes, a traditional Chinese pastry eaten at the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also sometimes known as the Mooncake Festival. Students got a literal taste of Chinese culture as they sampled a variety of mooncakes in flavors including lotus seed and red bean paste, which the CAO purchased from Mom’s House, a local Chinese convenience store located on College Street.
Once the mooncakes were finished, members of the CAO preformed an original skit based on the legend of Houyi and Chang’e, the story most commonly associated with the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which explains the beautiful fullness of the moon on this particular night of the year. The skit was written and directed by CAO co-chair Julian Wang ’13.
CAO co-chair Cheyenne Teng ’13 and Yang Xiao ’14 then gave a riddle challenge. Students were organized into small groups and given a limited amount of time to answer a series of riddles posted all around the lobby of Merrill Science Center. The winning group received gift certificates to The Black Sheep.
After the festivities had concluded, Wang ’13 credited the success of the event to “the concerted efforts of the club as a whole, and of course to the enthusiastic and supportive audience.”
“We are fortunate to have many enthusiastic and supportive members this year,” added Wang. “One of our main goals this year is to become more inclusive of students from non-Chinese cultures. So far I believe we are on the right track. We hope that through fun yet educational events like the Mooncake Festival celebration more students will become interested in CAO and in knowledge of China and Chinese culture.”
As part of their mission to promote awareness of China and Chinese culture among students, the CAO is also planning to host educational panels and forums on China, a Chinese film series and several cooking nights this year.
Also on the agenda is a celebration of the Chinese New Year in February, followed by the CAO’s annual Spring Concert.