Original Art Stories - Xueling Zou

COIVID-19 has changed many ways in our lives. I haven't seen my family for over two years, and I don't know when I will be able to get a visa and go back to my motherland for a visit. Especially on the Mid Autumn Moon Festival when all families should be together celebrating the annual harvest while enjoying watching the brightest full moon.   My husband is a Caucasian who understands Asian Culture better than most of Westerners.  He got up earlier and baked a delicious dark chocolate cake for us, because we ate most of the mooncakes earlier.  I was supposed to go Plein Air today.  Might be my nostalgia, I didn't want to go out for an excuse of hot weather.  Didn't feel productive, but I did go to the evening live model drawing drop-in class.   Wow, I wasn't the only one Chinese there!   I guessed that drawing the live model helped us to forget homesickness.  We even went out watching the full moon during the break.  What a great way to celebrate our traditional Moo

(Please click the image to enlarge) The Chinese Moon Festival (also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, fell on September 12, 2011. When the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie". Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festival. The Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events, just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West. The legend surrounding this occasion is about a beautiful lady named "chang er", who flew to the moon with her beloved rabbit named "yu tu" whose coat was pure white as white jade and they have lived there forever. Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The Chinese families hold reunions together spending their evening t