Thailand celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival with cruises, hotpot, performances

Thai and Chinese communities in Bangkok are celebrating this year's Mid-Autumn Festival with activities including moonlit cruises, spicy hotpot dinners and traditional performances providing a festive experience for both locals and visitors.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, falling on Tuesday this year, is known as the "Moon Worship Festival" in Thailand. While not a public holiday, the festival is widely observed thanks to the influence of Chinese culture and the Chinese community in Thailand.

A local Chinese restaurant hosted a special celebration featuring a moonlit cruise on the Chao Phraya River, with spicy hotpot and mooncakes. The event attracted local politicians and overseas Chinese in Thailand.

"The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is when people celebrate. You know, they look at the full moon, and obviously exchange and give mooncake. And I think for some other people who are more traditional, they pray to the moon, and I guess, their ancestors," said Kenneth Tng Ken Ming, a Thai entrepreneur.

"We also have the tradition of eating mooncakes in Thailand. I'm delighted to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with everyone here today. Meeting so many Chinese friends and tourists has been a great pleasure," said Chaturon Chaisang, Thailand’s former education minister.

"It's heartening to see our Chinese brands increasingly embraced by Thai friends in Thailand. This brings a unique sense of warmth and comfort to us working abroad," said Da Hongjuan, a staff member at a Chinese enterprise in Thailand.

In Bangkok’s Chinatown, traditional mooncake shops with decades of history have been serving traditional mooncakes and Chinese pastries beloved by locals, with extended business hours until 22:00 during the festival.

The China Cultural Center in Bangkok hosted a special Mid-Autumn Festival event on Sunday, bringing together people from China and Thailand to experience traditional Chinese culture.

During the event, Chinese artists showcased intangible cultural heritage while attendees enjoyed freshly made Tianjin fried dough twists and participated in making dough figurines and fabric crafts to take home as souvenirs.

"I'm thrilled to attend this event at the China Cultural Center and sample the Tianjin snacks I've never tried before. While I've celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, this is my first time participating in such festivities in Thailand. Today’s activities are wonderfully diverse and engaging," said a local resident.

In addition to the cultural heritage displays, performers from the Tianjin Arts Troupe delivered spectacular performances, including thrilling acrobatics, a ballet dance telling traditional Chinese story and a folk music performance.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, is a cherished occasion for family reunions in China.

Thailand celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival with cruises, hotpot, performances

The final match of "Village Basketball Association" Championship Tournament, an amateur rural basketball event that has become a nationwide sports phenomenon, was held on Friday in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

The Shandong Huidong Group team claimed the title after a 101-71 triumph over the team from Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Gansu Province.

The thrilling match lasted from afternoon to night, with basketball players from rural areas competing and demonstrating their skills, teamwork and passion, and tens of thousands of spectators from across the country cheering for the players.

"I've really felt how crowded this court is and how popular and hot the game can be. It's really exciting that we can experience country folk culture here," said Gao Qing, a spectator from Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province that is more than 3,000 kilometers away from Guizhou.

The championship tournament of "Village Basketball Association", or VBA -- a witty twist on North America's National Basketball Association -- is held annually in Taipan Village of Taijiang County in Guizhou's Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture as a part of rice harvest celebrations for local ethnic Miao people.

This year's tournament has involved more than 600 teams from across the country, of which eight played in the finals from Monday to Friday.

"All the fans would cheer for us no matter which team scores. It's really inspiring," said Wei Junjie, a player of Huxiang Village team from Bengbu City, east China's Anhui Province.

"It's a very good opportunity for us to learn from one another," said Chen Chen, a member of the runner-up team.

In addition to intensive basketball competitions, the court also hosted a karaoke, a concert and a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) show on the day to entertain the spectators.

Village basketball tournament concludes in southwest China’s Guizhou