This year, the Haymarket Chamber of Commerce (HCC) joined forces with its Chamber member Furama Hotel to host the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at the Furama Darling Harbour on the 10th of September.
Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節, also known as the Moon Festival, is celebrated on the 15th of August of the lunar calendar and is regarded as the second most important celebration in Chinese tradition after the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). In Chinese culture, we believe that the moon on this day is at its brightest and fullest. And the round shape of the moon symbolizes what we call 團圓, blessedness and unity.
Growing up in the ’70s in Taiwan, my early Moon Festival memories were often linked with typhoons. It was that time of the year – autumn, the typhoon season. When typhoons destroyed the opportunity for moon admiring, and the electricity, we had candlelit dinner at home instead. The cosiness and the satisfying feeling sat at the round table with family enjoying mooncakes left a lifelong impression.
The event venue was decorated with colourful lanterns on the ceiling. Lanterns and mooncakes are the key elements that immediately come to my mind when think of this festival. In my generation, Mooncake was always a hot topic prior to the festival. People exchanged thoughts about their favourite flavour, and their least favourite. We got excited whenever a new flavour was introduced. Well, it seems like Mooncake has stood the test of time, just check the hashtag ‘mooncake’ on Instagram on the day of writing, and I found more than 1.2 million posts! Talking about mooncakes, I was drawn to these multi-colour, multi-flavoured mooncakes at the party. Aren’t they pretty? They tasted as good as they looked, thank you Gong Grocer for the treat!
It was a social event celebrating togetherness, Kent and I happily caught up with Simon Chan (Immediate Past President of HCC), Dion Woo, and Maurice Aiken. There’s no event without speeches. Melvin Lim, the Manager of Furama Darling Harbour Hotel gave us a warm welcome. He informed us about the name change of the hotel. ‘But everything else stays the same or improved.’ said Melvin. Followed by Vincent Lim, the President of the HCC. Vincent highlighted the importance of the reunion of this festival, noting, ‘We moved the event a week ahead to ensure that you can spend the actual day with your families.’ Then he added, ‘But right now, let us celebrate as a big family of Haymarket Chamber of Commerce!’ We all raised our drinks toast to that!
Stir-fry noodles, fish ‘n’ chips, bruschetta, croquettes, mini hamburgers, and samosas were among the delicious canapés served to event guests. Award-winning wines from Millon Wines were generously supplied throughout the evening. The atmosphere was friendly, social and relaxing. We had a good time mingling with members and guests.
Among people in suits and contemporary attire, I noticed four young guests dressed in Hanfu 漢服. They stood out in the crowd. later on, I found out they were musicians from the Sydney Guyun Yaxuan Guzheng Arts Academy. We were thrilled to have them performing for us. From tranquil and serene to lively and energetic, I’m sure we don’t need to be guzheng experts to enjoy its delicate, bell-like tones and cascading melodies. Here’s the list of guzheng pieces they performed at the event:
盛世國樂 (Flourishing Age) – Sun Jinyang
紅顏如霜 (Cold Hearted) – Jay Chou
青花瓷 (Blue and White Porcelain). – Jay Chou
權御天下 (Sun Quan the Emperor) – based on an anime series
Another highlight of the evening was a Gongfu-style tea ceremony performed by Cara Chen of Altitude Tea. Gongfu tea 功夫茶, also known as ‘tea ceremony’ 茶道, means ‘making tea with skill’. It is a traditional Chinese tea preparation method. Cara looked elegant in a pearly white qipao. I especially liked her hairpin which had a golden phoenix, a lantern, and hanging beads as motifs! There were two types of teas she selected for the event. The first was Milk Oolong Tea. Cara did a silent demonstration on its 21-step showcasing how to make a perfect brew. Secondly, White Peony Tea, this time she broke down step-by-step for the audience both visually and verbally. After the ceremony, both teas were served to all guests, to be enjoyed with mooncakes, cheesecakes with berries, and lamington cakes.
Kent and I grabbed a rare chance to chat with a lovely gentleman called George Wing Kee. This man is the co-founder of the HCC. As the Chamber’s Founding and Honorary Lifetime Member, George was telling us about the difficulties of getting members to join the Chamber in the early days. ‘Look at how much it has grown,’ I said, ‘Not only do the politicians regularly appear at HCC events, but last year our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the Chamber’s Lunar New Year banquet!’ I congratulated the Chamber on its achievement. George replied to that with a humble smile.
Last but not least – a raffle at the end of the event! Our entrance ticket doubled as a chance to win a prize. Although we didn’t win anything, we shared the joy with those lucky winners. Thank you again to the Haymarket Chamber of Commerce, Furama Hotel, and everyone who made this gathering a memorable occasion!
