In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on September 8^th this year according to the Chinese lunar calendar, is an important festival that represents “togetherness”. On that day, no matter how far away people are from their homes, they make their best effort to return and celebrate the festival together with family members. In honor of this occasion, on September 9^th the Intercultural Club Beijing (ICB Club) at the University of Colorado Denver hosted a lively banquet for Chinese students and others interested in traditional Chinese cultures.

The celebratory banquet event served to bring together not only Chinese students, but also students and performers from a number of different student organizations at CU Denver, CU Boulder, and the University of Denver.

Members of the Vietnamese Student Association, dressed in traditional Vietnamese costumes, performed a graceful hat dance and explained the movements to the audience. Five stylishly dressed male students from the Hawaii Club performed a dynamic “poppin’ dance”, which evoked enthusiastic applause. One of the most popular performances of the night took place in the last half of the banquet. Eight Chinese students strutted across the stage in elegant formal wear and Jinrong Chen, a student at CU Boulder, performed the song, “Getting Home”, evoking thoughts of faraway China for many listeners. Qiaochen Liu, a graduate student at CU Denver, successfully closed the banquet by singing the last song with her charming signature sound.

Guests and participants enjoyed a variety of traditional Chinese foods that included “Moon Cakes”, prepared by the ICB Club. The round shapes of the dessert represent the moon and the idea of complete togetherness. As the banquet ended, audience participants were able to pick up photos that had been taken of them and their friends at the beginning of the event.

It is traditional in China that all family members sit together to see the moon in the mid-autumn festival. Although most students could not go back home to celebrate the festival this fall, they enjoyed the dishes, moon cakes, and performances with their classmates, professors, and the new friends that surrounded them. A feeling of warmth and camaraderie filled the air, and everyone left with fond memories from this year’s mid-autumn festival celebration.

To learn more about International College Beijing, please visit: http://international.ucdenver.edu/Beijing

By Yiying Liu