On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Sept. 17 this year, the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Yunnan Province held the Reception Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China & the “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon” China-Vietnam Mid-Autumn Festival Gala in Ho Chi Minh City and the Chinese Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Reception Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China & the “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon” China-Vietnam Mid-Autumn Festival Gala is held in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept. 16, 2024. (Photo provided to ECNS)

A couple of days ago, Super Typhoon Yagi wreaked havoc in northern Vietnam, causing significant property damage and heavy casualties. The typhoon also unleashed destruction across multiple provinces in southern China. Before the artistic performances started, a dozen Chinese-funded business associations in Vietnam including the China Business Association Ho Chi Minh City Branch donated VND3.8 billion (equivalent to RMB1.1 million) to the Vietnam Fatherland Front in Ho Chi Minh City.

The gala opened with the dance performance “Beauty in Harmony.” Themed “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon,” the gala consisted of four parts: “Flowers” (Blossoms in Abundance), “Prosperity” (A Year of Good Fortune and Prosperity), “Moon” (Full Moon during Mid-Autumn Festival), and “Reunion” (Celebrating Together). Chinese and Vietnamese artists and art troupes together celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival and the China-Vietnam friendship with wonderful song and dance performances.

In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an important occasion for family reunions and fun for the kids. The gala featured an interactive program “Blessings from Chang’e,” which was specifically designed for Vietnamese children. Dressed as Chang’e, the Chinese Goddess of the Moon, the dancers moved through the audience, distributing Mid-Autumn Festival themed cultural and creative products such as drawstring pouches, little rabbit figurines, and lanterns.

“I have been to Kunming, Dali, and Shangri-La in Yunnan. Yunnan is an amazing and beautiful place, and the Chinese people are very friendly and hospitable to us,” said Lam Quang Duc from Vietnam, who works as a Vietnamese-Chinese translator. He praised the fantastic performances by Vietnamese and Chinese artists at the gala, noting that they celebrated the deep friendship between the two countries.

“This is a gala featuring the interaction and merging between the traditional cultures of China and Vietnam,” said Miao Peng from Yunnan, China. He added that artists from both countries conveyed their best wishes for the future with song and dance performances, hoping to further expand people-to-people exchanges and promote mutual understanding and people-to-people bond between the two countries.

The gala is part of the 2024 “Blooming Flowers and Full Moon” Mid-Autumn Festival Cultural Exchange. The five-day event also features the “Sharing the Same Moon” Mid-Autumn Festival Cultural Salon and the “Harmony under the Same Moon” Photo Exhibition on A Many-Splendored Life in Yunnan.