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Celebrating with My Community

As a Chinese American, I think the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, and Dragon Boat Festival are traditions that make me feel truly Chinese.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday that celebrates the day of a full moon during the months of September to October. This tradition was made to honor the Goddess of the Moon, Chang’e. In her story, Chang’e (Chang-uh) was a woman who lived with her husband named Houyi (Ho-yi), who was an archer. One day, 10 suns appeared, and Houyi shot nine of them down. As a reward for shooting down the suns, Houyi got two immortality elixirs. He gave both elixirs to Chang’e. Fast forwarding, Houyi’s assistant, Fengmen (Feng-men) tried to steal the elixirs from Chang’e. So, she drank the elixirs and fled to the moon. During this holiday, people eat mooncakes, a round cake with sweet filling and a soft crust. This holiday is also celebrated by lighting lanterns and spending time with family.

When I celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, I saw lanterns lighting up the midnight sky with hues of the rainbow. As I was watching the beautiful lanterns, I ate a circular mooncake with smooth sweet red bean paste.

A few months after the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is the Chinese New Year! Chinese New Year is one of the biggest holidays in China. Its significance is to honor ancestors and deities, in addition to spending time with family members. Some common traditions and superstitions during this time of year are passing red envelopes, wearing new or red clothes, lighting firecrackers, cleaning the house, and many more. Even though Chinese New Year traditions are important to the holiday, food is also a large part of it. Some examples are glutinous rice balls, glutinous rice cake, longevity noodles, fish, and dumplings. But dumplings are my favorite.

In the summer, Chinese people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Like many Chinese families, we just watch as the boats sail on the water. This festival honors the death of a famous poet and minister, Qu Yuan (Chu-Yuan). These dragon boats were first used for religious purposes instead of as boats for racing. During this festival, people eat zongzi, a rice dumpling that is wrapped with banana leaves.

In my family, we only celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival if we are in China, because there are not a lot of places that celebrate it in the United States. So, my grandma makes the zongzi, and I even made one, too! In my grandma’s zongzi recipe, she uses glutinous rice, pork, salted egg, Chinese sausage, mung bean, red bean, and peanuts. She can also make a sweet version with sweet red bean paste. The zongzi itself is savory and sticky because of the glutinous rice.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, and Dragon Boat Festival make me feel Chinese because they create feelings of love and happiness when I celebrate them with my family.

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Skylar Liu is a 13-year-old who lives in Puerto Rico. Skylar enjoys anime, reading, writing, and drawing.