Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), the Chinese Club hosted their first event in room 75-207 from 3:30 to 4:30 after school Monday, Sept. 17. Led by Mrs. Hsiao-Lei Chang and co-presidents junior Doreen Li and freshman Olivia Chung, the snowy mooncake workshop ran successfully, selling out of cake materials by closing time.
Originating with the legend of Cháng’é (嫦娥), the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Although there are many variations to the story, legend has it that Hou Yi, Cháng’é’s husband, was a famed archer who shot nine of the ten suns from the sky during ancient times. To thank him for his service, the gods rewarded him with an elixir of immortality; however, he had no desire to become immortal without his wife and hid the potion. Although the story differs from this point on, Cháng’é eventually drank the elixir and became the Lady of the Moon. Every year, individuals celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in relation to good harvest, the moon and family.
As a traditional Chinese pastry eaten during the festival, mooncakes and their round shape symbolize family, unity and personal completeness. They are often made from sweet, baked dough and commonly have a red bean, lotus paste or salted duck yolk center filling. During the Chinese Club event, students had the opportunity to create a modern version of this traditional treat: snowy mooncakes.
Developed in the 1960s, snowy mooncakes became popular for their relative ease of creation and unique, sweet taste. The club workshop offered hand-made mochi dough as the outside and had four varieties of fillings to select from including red bean, sesame, mung bean and lotus.
During the event, individuals initially collected the materials from stations set up near the door. They then continued through to the designated tables in the room, folding each dough ball around the filling before moving to the molding stations. As using the hand presses could become a bit messy, several volunteers assisted with the molding process, directing students on how to use the tool. The result of the process: a ball of mochi and sweet filling with an intricate design embedded into the top, an edible souvenir to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“The snowy mooncake event was a huge success,” Doreen Li, co-president of the Chinese Club said. “We were not expecting such an amazing turnout. The ultimate goal of Monday’s event was to have kids enjoy themselves while learning about the culture of China’s Mid-Autumn Festival,” she noted, “and I feel we accomplished that.”
With several presses provided by Chinese Club members and volunteers, students had the opportunity to create a wide variety of patterned mooncakes. Junior Arsh Lalani assisted with the molding station. “It was amazing to see everyone who showed up,” he said. “There were so many new and familiar faces.” Working hard, from left to right, junior Yechang Liu, junior Arsh Lalani, sophomore Alexander Ngo, sophomore Kaixuan (Elon) Li and sophomore Emmad Amdani press their mooncakes. (Photo/Olivia Chung)
As the most time-consuming part of the process, students had to learn how to imprint mooncakes by hand. However, once individuals discovered the method for creating perfectly pressed treats, the process sped up significantly. At the press station, from left to right, event volunteers freshman Erika Chen and junior Meiling Ravelo oversee participants including senior Ava Spearing. (Photo/Olivia Chung)
