This month was the month of Asian Thanksgiving called the moon festival. Korean people call this event “Chuseok” and Chinese people call this event “Zhōng Qiū Jié.” On September 22, the Ayala’s Chinese Club was involved with a traditional festival held at The Shoppes, celebrating the holiday and embracing the culture.

As part of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, it is common for people to sing while some members would perform a dragon dance. Hosted by the Better Community Foundation (BCF), the event saw many groups, including Ayala’s Chinese Club.

“Our club was invited to perform and showcase the line, folk, and traditional dance,” Chinese Club President Kevin Li (12) said.

To perform this at the Mid-Autumn Festival, it took lots of hard work and practice time by the members. From singers to dancers, they all worked hard practicing countless hours to sound and look perfect.

“The night before the performance, I played the song on repeat countless times and then I practiced singing it with my friends too. I was still nervous after all the practice I had because I was scared I was going to forget the lyrics,” Michelle Li (9) said.

Every member’s hard work from the past year trying to prepare for this event had paid off. Feeling nervous had all faded away once on the stage or performing in front of the audience.

“I was very nervous before the performance, but once I stood on stage and sang with my friends, all the nervousness disappeared. I enjoyed singing and being on stage,” Michelle Li said. “After the performance, I felt very relaxed and happy. We had finally finished the performance and it went successfully.”

Singers had felt nervous especially with memorizing lyrics, but the performers had to remember the moves, and especially because they were covered with huge masks, the task was very difficult.

“I felt slightly nervous, but mostly confident, as my team and I have performed numerous times within the community,” Kevin Li said. “We have been practicing rigorously for over a year, which really helped to ease any anxiety.”

The students were the main performers and were the ones practicing, but behind the scenes, the individuals who organized this also had lots of worries. Chinese Club Advisor Mrs. Guo Lin was responsible for bringing the kids together, organizing practice times, and gathering the students in the first place to perform at the event.

“After school, we had multiple groups and leaders assigned to those groups. We had the lion dancing group, the Chinese traditional dances, and we also had the Chinese folk dancing group,” Lin said. “The student leaders of each group would arrange times that would work out for all of them and practice after school.”

Because the event was held at The Shoppes, lots of people were able to come together and relate with each other by celebrating the same holiday.

“Seeing such a large crowd come together to celebrate a Chinese festival abroad always astonishes me,” Kevin Li said. “Seeing people with other backgrounds finding joy through our cultural performance also enhances my pride in our tradition.”