On May 4th, the Northern California Overseas Chinese Association launched a flash mob in San Francisco to support Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and called on all sectors of society to support Taiwan’s entry into the World Health Organization.
The event, held by the Chinese Language Learning Center and the United Overseas Chinese Education Center under the Taiwan Hall in Northern California, attracted nearly a hundred participants in the South Bay.
The day’s activities were diverse, including live demonstrations of zongzi wrapping, wormwood insertion, dragon boat race competitions, making sachets, egg balancing, and playing Taiwanese card games, among other interactive activities.
Additionally, there were qigong performances, traditional Chinese medicine consultations, and a performance by the children’s choir from the Taiwanese school, singing Taiwanese songs. Participants also had the opportunity to taste various delicious zongzi, tea eggs, and Taiwanese specialty desserts, as well as receive a free pot of wormwood seedlings.
Li Meiying, the principal of the Chinese Language Learning Center at the Taiwan Hall in Northern California, stated that the purpose of organizing this event was to allow participants to deeply experience traditional culture and customs through active participation.
Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is one of the important traditional Chinese festivals with a long history of over two thousand years. Today’s event was very rich in content, and it is hoped that all participants will have a fulfilling experience.
Zhuang Yashu, the director of the United Overseas Chinese Education Center in the Golden Mountain Bay Area, expressed her hope that through this Dragon Boat Festival cultural event, overseas second and third generation Taiwanese-Americans will have a better understanding of Taiwanese culture, and the students of the Chinese Language Learning Center will understand the inheritance of this culture.
Yeh Chun-hsiung, the chairman of the Taiwan Hall in Northern California, stated that through holding the Dragon Boat Festival cultural event, some people were able to reminisce about their childhood and the scenes of celebrating the festival in Taiwan. At the same time, others also had the opportunity to experience and understand Taiwanese culture. Wishing everyone a wonderful time.
At the event, Director Zhuang Yashu presented graduation certificates to students of the Chinese language school at the Taiwan Hall. Currently, the Chinese language school at the Taiwan Hall offers both elementary and advanced classes in Mandarin. ◇