Mid-Autumn in Manchester

CGTN Europe

It’s the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by Chinese people around the world – including in the UK’s northern city of Manchester, which has one of the country’s largest Chinese populations. CGTN’s Michael Marillier went along to sample the Mancunian mooncakes.

Transcript

00:00The Mid-Autumn Festival is many things.

00:03Dance.

00:05Martial Arts.

00:07Games.

00:09And of course, moons.

00:12Really big moons.

00:14But above all, it's a celebration of unity.

00:17Highlighting that no matter where we are,

00:20we're all under the same moon.

00:23The idea behind this festival is really important in today's world.

00:27It's about building connections.

00:29Not just when we're close together,

00:31but when we find ourselves far apart.

00:34John Currieu is one of the performers at this year's event.

00:38She plays the moon goddess.

00:41Family is a very important part in our life.

00:44So I'm very proud that we have a festival

00:47that celebrates a family reunion

00:50to remind each other we should be with our family.

00:55This is a Chinese festival,

00:58but it's making its mark here in the United Kingdom.

01:01We need to have these society-to-society relationships

01:05and people-to-people relationships.

01:07So I think these kinds of events are good.

01:10I love the performances, especially the dance.

01:14That was very vibrant.

01:16And the little parade that we all did.

01:18And the fact that you get to join in as well.

01:20It really shows that it's a great community.

01:22A festival isn't a festival without snacks.

01:26Mooncakes are a big part of the celebration.

01:29A reminder that relationships feed our souls.

01:32And that's the message officials are hoping to send.

01:36I think this is a very, very good occasion

01:38for people here in this city and the country in the UK

01:43for people to know this Mid-Autumn Festival,

01:47the origins, all the festivities, the meanings.

01:51I think this is good for people in this country

01:55to understand Chinese culture and Chinese tradition.

01:58The UK may be thousands of kilometres from China,

02:02but it's not hard to see the connections.

02:05You just have to look up.

02:07Michael Merilia, CGTN, Manchester.

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