Take Away English-Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节

How many mooncakes will you eat this year?

On 25th September this year, people all over China will be getting together to eat with their families, look at the moon and celebrate one of the biggest festivals in the Chinese lunar calendar.

However, the celebrations stretch far beyond the borders of China. Here in the UK events are taking place for Chinese people living here, and to teach the people of Britain more about this popular festival.

The Soho Theatre in London conducted a study which showed that Chinese Londoners don't engage much with the arts world. As a result, 'Moonwalking In China' has been created to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This is no normal theatre production though, as it doesn't take place in the theatre. Theatre professionals and volunteers from the local community will take audiences around the streets of Soho on a magical lantern-lit walk through the landmarks¹ and backstreets of Chinatown.

They tell the story of three generations of Chinese Londoners who all cross paths one night in Chinatown. Rabbits, karaoke and a woman who lives on the moon all feature prominently².

It's the Soho Theatre's first site-specific production and looks to be a unique way of marking the famous Chinese festival.

And the celebrations don't stop there! In early October the British Museum is actually opening late for a special free Mid-Autumn Festival event. There will be Chinese musical performances, a guess-the-mooncake-flavour game and you can learn how to perform a fan dance.

You can also try your hand at a variety of other traditional Chinese arts and crafts³, as well as learning⁴ Mandarin⁵ and learning more about the history of China.

The Chinese population in the UK is quite large, so no doubt there will be events happening not only in the capital, but all around the country.

However you are celebrating, we hope you have fun. Happy mid-Autumn festival from everyone at BBC Learning English!

GLOSSARY 词汇表
the Chinese lunar calendar 中国农历 borders 边界 engage 参与 theatre production 剧作 volunteers 志愿者 landmarks 地标性建筑 generations 世世代代 feature prominently 显著的 unique 独一无二的 try your hand at 试试手	stretch far beyond 远远超越 conducted a study 进行一项研究 the arts world 艺术世界 theatre professionals 戏剧界专业人 lantern-lit 点燃灯笼的 backstreets 后街 cross paths 交叉 site-specific 实地的 a fan dance 扇舞 arts and crafts 工艺

 

1 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

2 prominently   

ad.引人注目地

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。
• This news was prominently featured in all the papers. 各报均以显著的位置刊载了这条消息。

3 crafts   

n.工艺( craft的名词复数 )；行业；飞机；飞行器

参考例句：

• traditional crafts like basket-weaving 像编篮子之类的传统工艺
• an arts and crafts emporium 工艺品商店

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

5 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。