The gala, hosted by the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Princeton University, featured a fashion show and comedy sketches as well as performances by Triple 8 Dance Company, jazz dancers from Fairleigh Dickinson University and musicians from Rutgers.
Several hundred students from all three schools along with community members came together to celebrate the holiday, which marks the end of the summer harvest and is traditionally a time of family bonding.
The festival falls annually on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is believed to be at its brightest and fullest. Families traditionally sit together and gaze at the moon.
Association board members said they pride themselves on hosting an event that presents Chinese culture in its most authentic form.
Mengjie Wang GS, the association’s president, emphasized the event’s importance in Chinese culture. “Everyone gets together with family and friends,” Wang said. “That’s why we want to put this together, especially for the new students. We’re all far away from home. We want to provide this event so they can get together, know each other and have fun.”
Most of the event was presented in Mandarin. During several hours of entertainment, Chinese culture was also on display in the traditional garments worn by students as they walked down a runway stage. In addition to the dim sum, mooncakes — the holiday’s traditional food — were served, along with Chinese staples such as bubble tea, lo mein and almond jellies.
“I thought it was a great way to show Chinese pride, the beautiful Chinese fashion, sense of humor and creativity,” said Susan Matson, the membership coordinator of the Central New Jersey branch of Families with Children from China, a networking organization for parents with adopted children from the world’s most populous country.
Derek Kiernan, a sophomore at Rutgers, praised the event for offering “an outlet for Chinese culture not dependent on an English-speaking audience.”
Quzhao Hu ’12, a vice president of the association, noted that turnout to the event was much larger than expected.
And for Changxin Zhao GS, one of the event’s emcees, the festival offered a sense of home and belonging.
“It really means a lot ... at this stage, when everyone is trying to adjust to the new environment,” Zhao said, adding that when “you can hang out with all the Chinese people, you get a calm atmosphere ... with people who understand your culture ... who are suffering from the same problems, like language and adjusting to American society.”
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