Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Saturday, September 13, 2008
5:30-10 p.m.
Free to the public
Central Plaza: 943-951 N. Broadway, LA Chinatown 90012.
Parking around the area is plentiful, and the festival is also easily accessed via Metro Gold Line rail from the Chinatown Station.

On Saturday, September 13 from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m., Chinatown will host the Southland’s oldest and most prestigious mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Chinese acrobats as well as martial arts demonstrations by The Shaolin Warriors of Chinatown will be featured during the late afternoon and early evening hours. As an additional treat for children, author Icy Smith will read from “Mei Ling in China City,” a children’s story based on the history of Los Angeles Chinatown, set during a Moon Festival celebration nearly 70 years ago. As the sun sets, the 2008 Miss Chinatown Queen and Court will explain the origins of the Moon Festival, and Phoenix Bakery, Chinatown’s oldest bakery, will demonstrate how moon cakes are made mixing red bean, lotus seeds, and egg yolks in this traditional treat. Complimentary moon cake samples will be handed out later in the evening.

The Griffith Observatory, which is making telescopes available throughout the evening, will demonstrate how to get the best views of the moon.

As this year marks the 70th anniversary of New Chinatown, a special emphasis is being placed on the history of Chinatown’s Moon Festival event and the contributions of local residents to preserve the community’s history and culture.

First, the L.A. Chinatown Corporation, which owns the majority of property in Central Plaza, will receive recognition as a Historic-Cultural Monument from the City of Los Angeles. As the evening grows darker, City Councilmember Ed Reyes will take the stage to recognize and announce the continuation of the Community Redevelopment Agency’s (CRA/LA) and the L.A. Department of Water and Power’s “Collaborative Historic Preservation Rehabilitation and Energy Efficiency Building Façade Lighting Program”. Reyes will also officiate the relighting of Chinatown’s historic neon lights and its newest pedestrian and street lights.

Next, Yenie Tran, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture, will present the Chinatown Preserve America Coalition, the CRA/LA, the City of Los Angeles, and other local leaders with a White House Certificate of Recognition of Los Angeles Chinatown as a “Preserve America Neighborhood.” Together, they will unveil the Los Angeles Chinatown Preserve America Road Sign. (The “Preserve America” designation is a White House initiative begun in 2003 and recognized in over 600 cities, counties, tribes, and neighborhoods in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Los Angeles is home to three “Preserve America Neighborhoods:” Little Tokyo, Thai Town and now Chinatown. The initiative is an effort to encourage and support community efforts to preserve and enjoy America’s cultural and natural heritage assets and to provide support for the economic vitality of communities.

Councilmember Reyes will then present Chinatown leader/community activist Irvin Lai and actor James Hong with “Lifetime Achievement” awards.

Irvin Lai, born in 1927, is revered in the Chinatown community for championing historic preservation and equal rights while serving in leadership roles in the Chamber of Commerce, The Chinese American Citizens Alliance, and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, among many other affiliations.

Actor James Hong has been featured in over 450 feature films and television shows, most recently entertaining millions as the voice of Mr. Ping in “Kung Fu Panda.” Hong is a founder of the East-West Players, the oldest Asian American theater company in Los Angeles, and served as president of the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists.

Also receiving awards this evening will be Richard Liu and Cindy Bennett, two Chinatown stakeholders who have worked diligently in a joint public/private effort with the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power to preserve and restore their Chinatown properties in Central Plaza and West Plaza, respectively: Richard Liu is owner of DSR Design, Inc. located at 951 North Broadway and Realm, at 425 Gin Ling Way, at the Hong Building at 437-451 Gin Ling Way. Cindy Bennett owns the North Hill Exhibitions Gallery and Printmaking Studio at 945 N. Hill Street. Both will receive “Sustainable Energy, Historic Restoration and Preservation and Community Revitalization” awards from the City of Los Angeles.

Beginning at 8:00 p.m., photos of early moon festival ceremonies and other historic Chinatown events will be showcased, while samples of moon cake will be handed out, courtesy of the Chinatown Business Improvement District. The video and photo presentations were assembled by Will Gow and Eugene Moy of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC).

Will Gow’s “Chinatown Remembered” will be screened at 8:20 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. This short documentary brings history to life and features interviews with many of Chinatown’s famous and often colorful personages such as artist Tyrus Wong, restaurateur David Lee, businessman Ron Louie, and others. Through this on-going film project, CHSSC hopes to document the lives and experiences of as many former residents of the Chinatown area as possible. Now in their 70s, 80s and 90s, these residents played a pivotal role in the creation of New Chinatown, the first planned Chinese American community in the United States. Ultimately, the memories of this generation will serve as the basis for a website focusing on the history of Los Angeles Chinatown. It is projected to launch late in 2008 or early 2009.

The evening will wind up with dancing from 8:30 to 10:00 under the moonlight to the rock ‘an’ roll tunes of Nick Chico’s BackTraxx band.

Festivities are free to the public and will take place in Chinatown’s historic Central Plaza (943-951 N. Broadway Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012). Parking around the area is plentiful. In addition, the festival site is easily accessed via Metro Gold Line rail from the Chinatown Station.


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Event Program:
5:30pm - Chinese acrobats and Mongolian contortion act
6:00pm - Author Icy Smith will read passage of "Mei Ling in China City
6:10pm - Demonstration of how moon cakes are made
6:20pm - The Candelabra contortion act also featured the "Happy Chef" act
6:35pm - City of L.A. makes a "Historic Monument" presentation to the LA Chinatown Corp
6:40pm - "The Sun and the Moon Exposed," presented by the Griffith Observatory
6:50pm - Miss Chinatown Queen & Court will perform a Moon Festival ceremony
7:15pm - Demonstration by The Shaolin Warriors of Chinatown
7:35pm - Chinatown's Cultural Heritage Celebrated: Chinatown to receive a White House Certificate of Recognition as a "Preserve America Neighborhood," unveiling of the Los Angeles Chinatown Preserve America Road Sign, two "Lifetime Achievement" awards, two "Sustainable Energy and Historic Restoration and Preservation awards and the relighting of Chinatown's historic neon lights and its newest pedestrian and street lights
8:00pm - photos of early moon festival ceremonies and samples of moon cake courtesy of the Chinatown Business Improvement District
8:20-10:00pm - rock and roll with Nick Chico's BackTraxx band
8:20-9:00pm - learn more about Chinatown's 70-year old history by watching "Chinatown Remembered," short film produced by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (two screenings)

Sponsored by Chinatown Business Improvement District, Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Chinatown Corporation.

Special Thanks to Chinese American Citizens Alliance, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, City of Los Angeles and City Council District 1, Cindy Bennett, Richard Liu, Eugene Moy, Mason Fong, Phoenix Bakery, The Chinatown West Association, The Griffith Observatory, Will Gow and Wing Hop Fung.

posted on 2008-07-22 - Special Events, Chinatown in the News


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