My Mid Autumn Festival Lost

In China community, many things were lost because the generation is changing. Some things in my generation have changed, but it is because I moved somewhere else. The biggest difference are the cultural festivals, such as the New year, Independence Day and Mid Autumn Festival. However, Mid Autumn Festival is my favorites festival, but it no longer celebrate as before.

Mid- Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in China. It’s a time of year when Chinese people celebrate the moon. It is a warm and sweet festival. It is a festival about a fairy who was living on the moon. In ancient China, people believed that the fairy would come down and eat the moon cake with them. In the Chinese tradition, families reunite on that day to celebrate together. Relatives go back to their home from other cities at that day and celebrate with their family before the festival. I usually celebrated with my family and my grandparents. We always ate the moon cakes together and talked, so it  the happiest moment in a day. After I came to the United States, I also celebrated with my family. However, the feeling was different This might be because my grandparents are not here anymore, and the place is different. Because of this, I do not appreciate this festival anymore. It is the same festival, but my feelings about this festival are totally different.

The things I used for celebrated this festival was different than the United States. In China, I usually celebrate this festival with the Chinese lantern. The children carry the lantern and  find their friends, so I did that too when I was a kid. However, it’s hard to find chinese lanterns in this city, but I found some in Chinatown. I thought if I use the Chinese lantern in this festival, the feeling of this festival might be like in China. I was wrong, it doesn’t feels not the same as in China. My family usually eats grapefruit, chestnut and grapes in China.  The food my family prepares for this festival are not the same as in China because my family only prepares the moon cakes for this festival. Therefore, the feeling I get from this festival has been lost.

Finally, one of the traditions that people will eat something while looking at the moon in China, such as moon cake. I usually ate the moon cake and look at the moon with my family when I was in China. Since I came here, I didn’t do those things anymore because I don’t look forward to this festival even though it’s still my favorite festival. My family doesn’t care about the moon anymore because there are too many buildings in this city, and sometimes we can’t even see the moon. Maybe it is because of the air pollution and the clouds in the sky, but it is not the same like my hometown. I was living in a small town in China, so the sky was very clear and I could see the moon very well, and I usually imagined that the fairy  living on the moon comes down and plays with me. Since I came here, the feeling of the moon in this festival is a different moon. I have a special feeling about the moon in the Mid Autumn festival because I always imagine that a fairy living in the moon. Sometimes, I even think it was not the same moon as in China.

Since I came to this country, my favorite festival has been lost in translation. Although I tried to do the same things as in China, the feeling for this festival has changed. I realized that the culture will change according to the country and generation. I predict that in the future, the Mid Autumn Festival will disappear from my family. I don’t know if the people living in China are still celebrating the traditional way during this festival or not, but I will always remember the feeling of this festival in my childhood.