CMU students hit the streets at the annual Moon Lantern Festival

Release Date: Oct 25, 2009  |  Author: Priyanka Bhatt and Yanti Dharwiyanti

An ancient Chinese proverb says, “The feeling of love is the same feeling that you get when you stare into the moon on a clear night.”

This was the exact emotion that most of us felt watching the moon and the beautiful lanterns at the Chinese Moon Lantern Festival in Adelaide.

We participated in the annual Moon Lantern Festival, which was the first event of the recent week long Oz-Asia Festival in Adelaide.

In true Carnegie Mellon spirit we also had the support and encouragement of our fellow students cheering for us as we carried the lantern through the crowds. Each ethnic community carried a huge lantern that was heavy even for six people. Our lantern was designed as a globe protruding out of a book, which symbolized the international environment and cultural diversity of our campus.

We not only represented our university but also our respective countries by wearing our traditional attires while carrying the Chinese lantern. Aditi Varma – India, Ayphalla Te – Cambodia, Mohammed Adnan – Pakistan, Priyanka Bhatt –India, Sri Dharwiyanti – Indonesia and Xiuping Liu – China.

The Moon Lantern Festival is a celebration of abundance and togetherness and dates back more than 3,000 years.

The Festival falls on the 15^th day of the eighth lunar month, where families in some Asian countries celebrate mid-autumn harvest, eating moon-cakes and carry beautiful lanterns under the full moon.

We also watched a special martial arts performance by Shandong Laizhou Martial Arts School, who had come all from China.

This fun event portrayed the multi-cultural spirit of Adelaide. The Festival was followed by a spectacular fireworks display near the Torrens River. It was a fun and memorable evening.

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