The Grandest Chinese Festival Celebration On Campus
Mid-Autumn Banquet Held by ICB Club
Sep 28, 2013
By Lichao Sun
“It was an excellent festival activity which exhibited some slices of Chinese students’ talents and skills, as well as facilitated communications between international students and locals,” expressed Dr. Stephen Hartnett, Department of Communication Chair. He continued, “I was impressed that there were so many people gathering in the Turnhalle tonight to celebrate this traditional reunion day in China.” Professor Hartnett was not be the only one surprised by the grand Mid-Autumn Banquet on September 24th.
Many students and faculty were also amazed by the diverse activities shown that evening.
English
Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon-cake Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. That is the day the Chinese believe the fullest moon is in the sky. The full moon symbolizes peace, prosperity, and family reunion, so the moon festival is also known as the day of reunion.
To welcome the 2013 ICB student cohort coming to study at the CU Denver campus, and to celebrate the first festival event of the academic year, the new ICB president, Haiyue Liu, directed ICB club members to organize thirteen performances for the festival banquet. While participants were filling their plates, Cheng Zhang, a new junior student, sang a Chinese popular song, “The Hug,” to start the banquet activities.
Senior student Junfei Tian joined with her high school friend, Shihang Sun, to perform a new-style Peking Opera, “The Drunk Beauty” (Xin Gui Fei Zui Jiu). This performance became the highpoint of the whole show. The breathtaking opera tone from Tian associated with Sun’s gender-reverse performance grabbed the attention of every guest present and made everyone laugh until the end of the show. The Moon Festival Banquet also hosted performances from American friends, including Gordon Hamby. Hamby, a communication major who participated in a Maymester course in China recently, is also a popular local country musician in Colorado. He performed “Singing,” which he wrote for his wife. Other American friends performed rap and free style dances, competing with their Chinese friends on stage. The performance ended with two traditional group games: Marshmallow Challenge and Musical Chairs.
The Moon Festival Banquet was a great success this year, thanks to the hard work of ICB Club members and the financial sponsorship from the Office of International Affairs and Student Life. This event is the largest one ever held independently by the ICB Club. The whole event lasted more than two and a half hours and attracted more than 200 people, including local guests from ISI families, campus faculty and staff, students, and local friends.
“I was happy to see so many Chinese and American friends together! We all had a great and unforgettable time celebrating this Chinese traditional festival with a bigger global family with new friends in Denver,” ICB President Liu said, “Thanks to all ICB Club officers, volunteers, actors and actresses who worked really hard during the preparation.” The Mid-Autumn Banquet is an awesome beginning to a series of student activities this fall semester.
Chinese
ICB社团举办中秋晚宴：一场盛大的中国节日校园庆典
“这是一场完美的节日活动。它展示了中国学生的才艺，同时促进了国际学生于当地人的交流,”传播部门主席Stephen Hartnett兴奋的说道， “我没想到有这么夺得人今晚齐聚Turnhalle大厅庆祝这个中国传统佳节”。 Hartnett 教授绝不会是唯一一个被这场盛大的中秋晚宴震惊的人。 许多的学生和职工都不断赞叹着2013年9月24日晚上的多姿多彩的庆祝活动。
中秋节，又称月饼节，是中国人于阴历八月十五日庆祝的传统佳节。中国人相信这一天的月亮是一年里最圆的。圆月象征着和平，繁荣，和家人团聚。因此，中秋节又有着全家团圆的含义。
为了欢迎2013年刚从ICB项目北京校区来的新生，同时庆祝ICB Club选举后的第一个节日活动，新的ICB主席刘海月带领着她的小组和大批新生安排了13个中秋表演节目。当参加者们将食物装满他们的盘子时，新大三生张澄演绎了一首中国流行歌曲“拥抱”，为演出拉开了序幕。 大四生田君霏和她的高中好友孙世航合作演绎了新式京剧片段“新贵妃醉酒”，为整个演出带了一个高潮。田君霏令人惊叹的京剧唱腔，配合着孙世航的反串表演，成功的吸引了在场的每一位来宾，令人捧腹大笑。同时，中秋晚宴不再是中国学生们的舞台，许多美国的朋友也按耐不住展示他们的才艺。Gordon Hamby 是一名传播学专业的学生，同时也是当地有名的乡村音乐歌手。他对亚洲文化有着浓厚的兴趣。他曾经用自己演唱会筹得的钱参加去2013五月的中国游学活动。在中秋晚宴上，Hamby为大家带来了一首他自己创作的歌曲“歌唱”，这首歌同时也是写给他的妻子的。另外，其他几名美国朋友和中国学生同台比拼，在台上表演了饶舌音乐。整个演出以ICB的传统游戏项目，棉花糖大冒险和音乐抢椅，拉下帷幕。
今年的中秋节晚宴取得了巨大的成功。这是ICB Club成立以来，独立举办的最大的一次活动。整个晚宴持续了两个半小时。经过统计，超过200人参加了今年的晚宴。其中包括70名当地宾客，他们有ISI美国家庭，学校员工，对文化感兴趣的学生和当地的美国朋友。其中特别感谢，来自国际事务办公室的大力支持，才使得这次的活动能够顺利的举行。另外，感谢传播学部门的Bean教授带领他整个传播班研究生们来为ICB Club的活动捧场。“我很高兴能够看到这么多中国学生和美国朋友们能够来参加我们的活动！能和这么多国际大家庭的成员们，以及刚来到丹佛的新生们一起庆祝这个传统的中国团员节，这对我真是一个难忘的经历”, ICB主席刘海月说，“感谢所有ICB Club 成员, 志愿者，以及那么用心准备很久的演员们”。 这场精彩的中秋晚宴为今年秋季学期接下来多姿多彩的活动来开了一个圆满的序幕。
