Mandarin 1 and 2 classes made traditional moon cakes on September 17 to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival as part of their investigation of Chinese culture.

This is the 2nd year that Mandarin teacher Sabrina Wun has included the project in her curriculum.

Wun said last year’s Mandarin students were “really good and enthusiastic” about the project.

“I think for celebrating Chinese holidays, all holidays are related to food, they always have a special kind of food attached to the holiday. And also, when learning a language, you have to know the culture behind it, so having hands-on activity will really enforce the meaning of the holiday, and attach the language to it,” said Wun. 

Students prepared the dough at home and worked in groups during class to mold it and fill it with a sweet red bean paste. The groups then presented their moon cakes to various teachers around campus and offered short presentations on the holiday.

According to Mandarin 1 student, freshman Lily Macdonald, moon cakes are a “very traditional food.”

Mandarin 1 student freshman Hunter Adams said that his group “really got into it.”

“It is very challenging, and it’s taking a lot of cooperation from our group,” said Adams. “We are learning about Chinese culture and the struggles of cooking.”

“You can’t just learn the language, you have to learn some of the culture, so I think this was a good activity to do,” said Macdonald.

Wun received extra help in making the dough from Mandarin 2 students. “Some Mandarin 2 students already did it last year, and so they helped me make extra dough batches because not every student knows how to cook, and they have to make the dough at home,” said Wun. “I was afraid that some would fail at making the dough, so we have extra dough for the freshmen.” 

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