The Mid-Autumn Festival

Apple is inviting us into her home.

This past Sunday was a traditional holiday in China known as the Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival.  The Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history in China but these days it’s mainly a celebration of family.  People from all over China will return to the home of their parents and spend the day eating and enjoying the company of each other.  This was past Sunday was my first time celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.  Up until the holiday I was constantly being asked by students what I was going to do for the Moon festival.  Quite frankly, I had no idea what I was even supposed to do!  I’d never celebrated a Moon Festival before.  That’s when one of my good friends invited IECS teacher Jaime and I to spend the holiday in her village.  It sounded like quite the experience so Jaime and I accepted the invitation. 

Sunday morning started off really early for Jaime and me.  We had planned to meet with our friend, Apple, at the main gate of the campus at 5:30 am.  However, the gates won’t open till 5:45 am and the gate guard wouldn’t let Apple out.  This was only a minor setback but we decided to take a taxi to the bus station anyway as to not loose anymore time.  We arrived at the Langfang bus station around 6:15 am and within 30 minutes we were off for Apple’s remote village.  The bus ride was itself quite an experience.  Lane markings and speed limits are more of a guideline in China.  Not to mention the roads aren’t the best.  But, somehow we made it safely!

 

The village was something to see.  Each house was built in the traditional Chinese fashion with a small three room house inside of a walled courtyard.  Each house was pressed firmly against the others leaving only a few narrow alleyways in-between.  The roads between houses were a mixture of brick and mud and it’s a good idea not to wear nice shows when visiting any remote villages in China.  We arrived right around 8:00 in the morning and the various small shops in the village were just beginning to open.  One such small shop was the general store owned by Apple’s parents.  We were pleasantly greeted by Apple’s mother who quickly invited us into the backroom where we could have a seat.  Apple’s mother reminded me very much of my own mother: no sooner had we arrived then she was wiping out the pots and pans to fix us up something to eat.  I’m thankful I hadn’t eaten any breakfast because Apple’s mother fixed us quite the morning feast.  We had noodles, apples, pumpkin seeds, and steamed crabs… yum!  The only thing our feast was missing was Old Bay seasoning.

Crabs with Grandpa

I’m very thankful that Apple served as our English interpreter for the day.  Only a couple of people in the village spoke any English so Apple was busy all day converting words from English to Mandarin and back again.  But she handled it like a pro.  At no time in the journey did I ever feel unwelcome, despite not being able to understand their language.  Rather, the people of the village were really kind and very generous.  It was clear that they didn’t have much but they would offer us whatever they had to make sure we felt at home.

Me, Apple, and Jaime

 After breakfast, we then went down the street and visited Apple’s bed ridden grandmother.  She was very happy to see us.  She pointed to one of her pictures on the wall with pride.  The picture was from when IECS teachers Andy and Heather had visited her just the year before.  She wanted another picture just like it with her new American friends so Jaime and I struck a pose with Grandma.

Visiting Grandma

 After the visit with Grandma we then went to Apple’s best friend’s house.  Here we met Apple’s best friend and her family.  They were a lot of fun.  Apple’s best friend could speak a little English so the meeting mainly turned into a Chinese and English learning session were the Americans would try to speak in Chinese and the Chinese would try to speak in English.  It was hilarious and educational!  The best part was when Apple’s friend’s grandfather came into the room with a twinkle in his eye, shook my hand and kept repeating the only English word he knew, “Obama.  Obama.  Obama.”  

Apple's Friend's Family

 It’s interesting to see how much the people of China love American president Obama.  There is very little known about the man himself and his political policies but the love for Obama comes more from what he represents.  For the Chinese people, Obama represents a minority rising to the highest position of power.  It’s the “Chinese dream,” to coin-a-phrase.  The Chinese look at Obama and they see a symbol that maybe one day there will even be an American president that comes from Chinese heritage.  Maybe it will even be one of their sons or grandsons to hold the position.

Politics aside, the morning visit to the village was a lot of fun.  In a lot of ways Apple’s village reminds me of my father’s home town of Cripple Creek, VA.  It’s a small town, barely big enough to be called a town, where entire generations of families live within walking distance of one another.  It’s a small spot on the map with a big heart and open arms.  

Apple's mom is fixing dumplings for dinner.

 One thing I do need to stress is that anyone who plans on visiting one of these villages really needs to space out their eating!  I mean it.  We were fed all day.  Every household we entered had an assortment of fresh fruits and moon cakes waiting for us to try.  There really wasn’t a moment where we were not eating or being offered something to eat… (Also a lot like Cripple Creek).  Apparently America isn’t the only place that believes in “Southern Hospitality.”  The one part that took the most getting used to was the moon cakes.  Moon cakes are a special Chinese treat.  They are a sweet breaded cake with a surprise inside.  My first moon cake of the day was filled full of hawthorn jelly so it was really good.  The next one, however, was filled full of black beans... yeah, wasn’t expecting that one.  At least I didn’t get the one with the whole egg yolk inside the center.  That’s the one Jaime got! 

  The final stop on our whirlwind tour of Apple’s village was to the nearby shrine.  Apple’s father served as our tour guide to the shrine and we all hopped in his bread box van and drove to the site.  The shrine was an impressive three-story pagoda with surrounding courtyard and a moat full of lotus flowers.  The lotus flowers were not in bloom so the moat looked more like a lily pond.  The pagoda was masterfully hand painted with very ornate pictures and there were bronze statues that adorned all the walls.  Apple’s father told us that the shrine was not a place of worship so much as it was a place to celebrate the people.  The statues inside were of Confucius and of emperors long since past.  The writings on the wall spoke about how the highest honor for the people was to become the number one student and thus the greatest mind of China.  The pagoda was really just a fancy museum.

I’m very thankful for the invitation to Apple’s village and for the hospitality that was shown to Jaime and me by the villagers. In fact, Apple's Uncle invited us to come back on the 3rd to celebrate his son's wedding... I think they liked us.   I hope to go back there again and spend more time with such good and friendly people.   It’s hard to imagine that I really spent such a wonderful day in remote village in China... but I did!

Apple's Family

 

If you’d like to see more pictures of the Mid-Autumn Festival than check out my Qzone --> http://user.qzone.qq.com/2476080944