Orange County held our 15th Annual Moon Festival Banquet on September 18.  Keeping with tradition, the event was held at Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia.

The evening started off with an icebreaker activity, the Moon Festival Legends Game. Each participant received a sheet about the legends and were tasked with finding images related to the legends, e.g. 10 suns, Chang-e, Hou-yi etc.  Each family was given an envelope of images to hand out and the kids had to run around the room collecting images from other banquet attendees.

As always, everyone enjoyed the delicious menu of egg drop soup, honey walnut shrimp, beef and snow peas, tofu and mushrooms, cashew chicken, house lo mein, yang chow rice, and of course, moon cakes.  Dinner was followed by a variety of entertaining and education performances: 

• Martial Drum: Performer Arthur Chen and instructor Rachael Sysiong
• Beijing Opera Master: Kevin Chai
• Lion Dance Instruction: Jonathan Wong

All attendees had the opportunity to try out the instruments and costumes and learn some of the routines first hand.  The evening ended with prizes for the kids - all went home with an adorable stuffed xiong mao, hou zi, tu zi or other animal.

Many thanks to organizers Susan Tschabrun and Debbie Kistler, and the group of volunteers who helped make this banquet a success! Copy and photos for this post contributed by Patty Uy and Jenifer Weigand.

The Orange County Regional Group had a busy end to 2010.  Here's the wrap-up:

In October the OC Regional Group inaugurated a new event - the China Book and Story Group.  This 2-in-1 family event opened with a fun children's session on Chinese folktales taught by Ms. Shawna Lai, instructor at South Coast Chinese Cultural Center. In the second hour, the remaining adults enjoyed a discussion of the book Factory Girls: from Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang. Everyone took part in the conversation and got to know each other better.  In the adjoining room, two of our teenage girls took charge of the younger kids and led a "make your own book" craft.  Patty Uy organized and numerous volunteers helped with set up and clean up.  Thanks everyone!  Expect to see this kind of event again in 2011!

Additional events include the annual art workshop and the Holiday Dance Party. Click through to read more.

This autumn marked another memorable Moon Festival banquet in Orange County. The event was once again held at Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia. Everyone enjoyed the delicious food and interactive cultural entertainment.

Co-organizer Susan Tschabrun introduced a mooncake dice game from Fujian province. The game originated about 350 years ago by a Chinese general trying to stave off homesickness among his troops during this family-centric holiday. The total of 63 prizes, based on various dice combinations, was named after the six titles earned in the imperial civil service exam.  Mooncake Dice Game proved to be a big hit with all participants and will surely become part of our annual tradition.

This year's FCC-SoCal/OCA summer picnic on June 5th rejoined old and new friends alike at an unique park in the city of San Gabriel, in western San Gabriel Valley. We picnicked directly adjacent to Dinosaur Park, an artistic treasure nestled in the quiet corner of Victor Lugo Park. The event was well attended by over fifteen families, and offered opportunities for enjoying delicious food (Hawaiian theme!) and warm conversation. Many members met the new FCC board members for the first time.
 
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The Year of the Tiger roared into town with two banquets for FCC SoCal members and their guests on Feb 6th and 27th. Our annual tradition of gathering to celebrate and re-connect continued for its 13th year, though this time with a new committee at the helm. Many thanks to Jeri, Susan and Lee for making this a favorite event for so many years and giving the new bunch an easy template to follow.

Though the first banquet was smaller than in recent years with about 250 people, it was lovely to have a bit more elbow room and the opportunity to mingle with friends and actually hear them. The Lion Dance topped off the evening with a particularly thrilling performance with lots of interaction with the kids. Their high voltage energy led us all onto the bubble wrap for the loud dance of joy. Everyone had a huge grin on their faces watching the kids let loose with glee.

On a rainy Saturday in March twenty-five small children in traditional Chinese costume gathered at the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center to learn Chinese folk dance from “Miss Annie;” Anne Ma.

Miss Annie and her two assistants taught their young students “The Firecracker Dance” during the 45 minute session, followed by a short snack break and finally the performance! Parents who had anxiously huddled in the hallways during rehearsal were allowed into the studio to video and photograph their angels as they exhibited a graceful display of dance. Some of the older students partnered with the younger ones to help keep them in step. The results were very impressive! Most importantly all the participants had a fun learning experience!

Jingle bells were swinging and jingle bells were ringing at the annual FCC Orange County Holiday Party!  It wasn’t snowin’ in Mission Viejo, but the event was blowin’ up bushels of fun for more than 30 families attending the December 6 event.

The jingle hop had begun with a dance soundtrack playing throughout most of the party.  The kids who weren’t dancing were making projects and new friends at the crafts table.   Families generously piled a mountain of donated gifts in one corner of the spacious room for the Orangewood Foundation, benefiting OC children and teens in foster care.

Check out our gallery of photos.