When Ms. Zhou remembers Mid-Autumn Festival, she remembers a table set with chicken, steamed taro and grapefruit. The fruit was cut into small pieces so everyone could have some. "It's a reunion with everybody chatting," she says.
The Chinese American Service League spoke with six older Chinese women now living in the United States. Each woman recalls a slightly different celebration. Ms. Mo's family gathered for a barbecue in the park. Ms. Moy's father invited his workers to join the family for mooncakes, fruit, roast chicken and roast duck.
After dinner, the celebration moved outside. Adults waited for the moon while children ran around with lanterns. Fruit and mooncakes were placed nearby. The festival did not belong to one household; the whole neighborhood seemed to be taking part.
Life in the United States changed that feeling. Mid-Autumn Festival is not a public holiday there, so work and school continue as usual. Ms. Yu says that families sometimes barely notice the date because everyone, especially younger people, is busy.
The difference is not simply that these women miss home. In their childhoods, the holiday happened all around them. Relatives lived nearby, shops prepared for the festival and neighbors paused at the same time. After moving abroad, families had to create that atmosphere for themselves.
Still, the tradition has not disappeared. Ms. Mui remembers a time when stores in Chinatown carried almost nothing for Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, she sees busier shops and more people preparing for celebrations.
For Ms. Moy, the festival has also reached a new generation. Her children were born in the United States, but they know the festival. The family gathers, plays with lanterns and buys mooncakes every year.
Asked what Mid-Autumn Festival means, Ms. Yu answers without hesitation: "Reunion. The most important thing is being together, eating whatever food, and being very happy."
Her answer explains why the holiday survives even when its surroundings change. A festival does not live in a particular dish or decoration. It lives when people make time for one another — and when a younger generation learns that gathering is a tradition worth carrying forward.