FILCOM IN XIAMEN CELEBRATES MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL 2015

• • • • • • • • • • Top Left: ConGen Flores (middle) speaking before the crowd during the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration
                  • Top Right: Filipinos and their foreign friends play the Bo Bing Games

The Filipino Association in Xiamen (FAX) in cooperation with the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen celebrated the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on 13 September 2015 with a get-together and “bo bing Games” at the Consulate General’s grounds. Also known as Harvest or Mooncake Festival, this festival is an occasion for family reunion, thanksgiving and prayer. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and this year it fell on September 27.

In his remarks during a brief program, Consul General Julius Caesar A. Flores said that the annual event is a great opportunity for Filipinos and their friends to observe a traditional Fujian custom that strengthens their bonds of friendship, understanding and camaraderie.

One of the highlights of this festival is the “bo bing game”, a traditional southern Fujian dice game created by pirate-cum-patriot Koxinga to relieve homesickness among his troops with prizes ranging from tiny cookies to medium and large mooncakes, with one grand prize – the Zhuangyuan cake, the biggest and best mooncake.

This activity brought together 130 Filipinos and their Chinese and other foreign friends from Xiamen City. It is one of FAX’s fundraising events for 2015. Xiamen PCG staff and their families also joined the Filipino community in this annual FAX event. END