Monday, September 19, 2005
賞 月 Autumn Moon Festival
Sunday was a memorable 中 秋 節 (jung1 chau1 jit3) Autumn Moon Festival for me. After hearing about it on the local Cantonese language radio (星 島 中 文 電 台), I signed up for an afternoon program in San Francisco Chinatown. The main feature was a lecture in Cantonese about 風 水 (fung1 seui2) geomancy. The program was conducted entirely in Cantonese, and surprisingly, I understood most of it, including some of the jokes. The lecturer was 醉 一 先 生 (jeui3 yat1 sin1 sang1), who was dressed in a 唐 裝 (tong4 jong1), an old style Chinese gown (see photo above). His traditional dress seemed appropriate for an ancient topic like 風 水. It also gave a special holiday flavor to the program. After the lecture, there was music on the 古 箏 (gu2 jang1), a Chinese stringed instrument, as well as 月 餅 (yut6 beng2) moon cakes and other snacks.
After dark, in anticipation of the full moon, I climbed to the top of the ridge that overlooks my neighborhood. At first, the moon was partially hidden by some unusual clouds. But rising higher, the moon suddenly came out of the clouds and shone brilliantly. To capture the moon in all its glory, I set my camera for extra large magnification (see photo above).
From the news reports, it sounds like the full moon was only partially visible in HK on 中 秋 節 because of rainy weather. As I admired the full moon, ate moon cakes, and drank a little 白 蘭 地 酒 (baak6 laan4 dei6 jau2) brandy, I was thinking of my friends in HK and hoping that I could share the beautiful moon that they weren't able to see. ¶ 9:00 PM
Sunday was a memorable 中 秋 節 (jung1 chau1 jit3) Autumn Moon Festival for me. After hearing about it on the local Cantonese language radio (星 島 中 文 電 台), I signed up for an afternoon program in San Francisco Chinatown. The main feature was a lecture in Cantonese about 風 水 (fung1 seui2) geomancy. The program was conducted entirely in Cantonese, and surprisingly, I understood most of it, including some of the jokes. The lecturer was 醉 一 先 生 (jeui3 yat1 sin1 sang1), who was dressed in a 唐 裝 (tong4 jong1), an old style Chinese gown (see photo above). His traditional dress seemed appropriate for an ancient topic like 風 水. It also gave a special holiday flavor to the program. After the lecture, there was music on the 古 箏 (gu2 jang1), a Chinese stringed instrument, as well as 月 餅 (yut6 beng2) moon cakes and other snacks.
After dark, in anticipation of the full moon, I climbed to the top of the ridge that overlooks my neighborhood. At first, the moon was partially hidden by some unusual clouds. But rising higher, the moon suddenly came out of the clouds and shone brilliantly. To capture the moon in all its glory, I set my camera for extra large magnification (see photo above).
From the news reports, it sounds like the full moon was only partially visible in HK on 中 秋 節 because of rainy weather. As I admired the full moon, ate moon cakes, and drank a little 白 蘭 地 酒 (baak6 laan4 dei6 jau2) brandy, I was thinking of my friends in HK and hoping that I could share the beautiful moon that they weren't able to see. ¶ 9:00 PM
