Celebrate MidAutumn Festival in London Chinatown
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival and the Chinese Lantern Festival, is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. This generally occurs about late September or early October when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important festival in the Chinese calendar, apart from the Chinese New Year and Winter season Solstice (also acknowledged as Dongzhi Festival), and is a nationwide vacation in some countries.
Traditionally, throughout the Mid-Autumn Festival, farmers celebrate the finish of the summertime harvesting time on this date. Chinese loved ones members and close friends gather to admire the vibrant mid-autumn harvest moon, and get pleasure from moon cakes and pomelos together.
Overthrow of Mongolian rule
According to Chinese folklore, the Moon Festival commemorates an uprising in China towards the Mongolian rulers of the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368) in the 14th century. Group gatherings were forbidden by the Mongolian rulers and it was difficult to orchestrate a rebellion.
As the Mongolians did not partake in the eating of moon cakes, the rebel leaders came up with the concept of timing the rebellion to coincide with the Moon Festival. They distributed 1000’s of moon cakes to the Chinese residents in the metropolis and cleverly inserted within each moon cake a piece of paper with the message: “Kill the Mongolians on the 15th day of the 8th month.”
On the night time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the rebels efficiently attacked and overthrew the Mongolian government. Pursuing the overthrow of the Mongolian authorities was the establishment of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). As a consequence of the productive rebellion, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated with moon cakes on a nationwide stage.
Mid-Autumn Festival in London
Gerrard Street was the principal focal point of the Moon Festival in London and Chinatown was lit up by 1000’s of orange paper lanterns to mark the situation. Hundreds of nearby Chinese and website visitors from all above the planet have been there to take part in the anxiously awaited yearly function. Several young children had been wearing the classic brilliant coloured Chinese costumes and they search pretty in them.
This occasion was organised by the London Chinatown Chinese Association and was held on Sunday, 11th October, a week later than normal, to coincide with the London Restaurant Festival (8th – 13th October 2009).
An out of doors stage was setup on Macclesfield Street, going through Gerrard Road. The opening ceremony commenced at one.00pm with the ever-well-known lion dance.
The afternoon’s performances were a combination of standard and modern enjoyment which includes a lion dance, martial arts, Chinese conventional new music, hip-hop dance and Hong Kong Canto-Pop.
Presents were distributed to those who participated in quizzes or have been brave adequate to go on stage to give a performance. There have been also foods tasting, candy and noodle-creating courses and even a Chopsticks Problem.
28 Chinatown restaurants participated in the London Restaurant Festival and supplied mouth-watering particular menus of Oriental cuisines at specific charges.
Elsewhere Chinese local community shops had been set up to sell Chinese goods and individuals offering paper lanterns and fans appeared to have done quite nicely on the day.
And so did the lion who danced from one store to an additional supplying excellent lot of money to the Chinese enterprise local community.
The Mid-Autumn Festival in London was plainly loved by absolutely everyone. There was so significantly exciting and laughter and even the drizzle near the finish did not dampen the spirits of individuals who participated in this year’s occasion.
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