Experiencing a New Culture in Chinatown #NewThings
This month we have been really enjoying trying new things as part of our role as New Thing Ambassadors. We were challenged to try and experience new things together as a family, such as visiting a new place in week one, we loved visiting Legoland for the first time, playing a new game, we made an educational maths memory game.
Last week was one of our favourite weeks, we were challenged to try a new food, we made jam, our Easy Raspberry and Vanilla Jam was a success, we also made a new savoury dish, a delicious Fusilli with Smoked Trout, and Pain au chocolat bread a butter pudding, a twist on the traditional dessert.
However this week, we struggled a bit with the challenge of experiencing a new culture. Usually we see trying a new culture as trying new dishes, but we had already tried new food last week, so we were looking for a different way to experiencing a new culture.
Thanks to a very helpful chat with the lovely Angela, that blogs at The Three Musketeers, we were inspired to visit Chinatown and experience a new culture during our visit.
Little man has been talking about Chinatown for some time, we really enjoy Chinese restaurants and takeways, but usually settle for our nearest restaurant instead of travelling to central London.
During our visit to Chinatown, we noticed the big ‘Happy Chinese Moon Festival’ signs and beautiful Chinese Lanterns. We then learnt that Chinese Moon Festival, the annual mid-autumn festival, is celebrated all over the world on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, to mark the end of the harvest season. This year, it was celebrated on the 8th September.
After the New Year, the Chinese Moon Festival is the second most important festival to the Chinese, filled with family gatherings, illuminating lanterns, dances, colourful dances, outdoor activities and moon cakes.
We loved seeing the beautiful and colourful lanterns at Chinatown, and learnt that the Chinese Moon Festival can also be known as the lantern festival, as the festival is celebrated by lighting and displaying lanterns, in different shapes and colours, which mimic the moon’s brightness in the city streets.
Usually, moon cake is eaten during the Chinese Moon Festival, but unfortunately we couldn’t find any during our visit. They are typically made from wheat flour and stuffed with sugary fillings, such as sweetened red bean paste and powdered lotus seeds.
Little man spotted a maneki-neko, also known as Chinese lucky cat, in several shop windows, and learnt that the cat with an upright paw is believed to bring good luck to the owner. It is very popular with Chinese merchants, and also known as welcoming cat, lucky cat, fortune cat and money cat.
We really enjoyed our time in Chinatown, it really felt we were in another country, immersed in a different culture in the heart of London. The Chinese writing everywhere, on restaurants and street signs, the Asian people and oriental atmosphere made us feel as if we were in China.
We also spotted a couple of back roads that we never knew existed in central London. We are planning another visit soon to Chinatown, we will keep an eye on London Chinatown Chinese Association website for details on future events. For more information, please check: http://lccauk.com/
We have absolutely loved taking part in the New Things challenge. If you are looking for new things, CSMA has some great suggestions on cheap things to do with kids – perfect for ideas to keep them entertained on weekends now they are back at school.