2012 Xiamen Mid-Autumn Festival Set to Begin

XIAMEN, China, September 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A media briefing, led by Xiamen Tourism Bureau head Huang Guobin and detailing the event schedule of the 2012 Xiamen Mid-Autumn Festival, was held in Xiamen municipal government's press conference room on the morning of August 30th. The festival, which will run from September 16 to October 14, will include the opening ceremony, the Bobing (mooncake gambling) Tournament, the Flower Boat Parade, the floats parade and seminars on the Bobing tradition and culture, among other activities. Starting from this year, the festival will begin and end on the full moons that frame each year's eighth lunar month.

Top Competition - "Champion" PK Tournament. (PRNewsFoto/Xiamen Tourism Bureau)

The 2012 Xiamen Mid-Autumn Festival is sponsored by Xiamen's municipal government and the Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau, and co-hosted by Xiamen Tourism Bureau, the district government of Xiamen, Xiamen Daily, Xiamen Media Group, with supporting hosting roles provided by Zhangzhou and Quanzhou Tourism Bureaus as well as the tourism bureaus of 13 cities across Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces.

The "Passions in Mid-Autumn, Moon Cake Gambling in Xiamen"-themed event, with a focus on the traditions surrounding the mid-autumn holiday and highlighting the folklore of Bobing, a delightful and highly enjoyable betting game that is still played at this time of the year in many parts of Taiwan and southern Fujian province.

• Opening ceremony: The opening ceremony will be held in Muzhandao Square facing Wuyuanwan Bay on September 16, with 500 guests in attendance, consisting mainly of major domestic and foreign media as well as purchasers of tourism services. The ceremony features the first round of the Bobing Tournament and the Flower Boat Parade.
• Bobing Tournament in Xiamen: This three-stage event will be also held in Muzhandao Square. The first stage of the event will take place on September 16; during the second stage, from September 17 to October 13, event organizers will invite at least 300 tourists to participate in rounds of Bobing gambling while the Southern Fujian folk art show will serve as an interesting backdrop; the final game will be staged on October 14.
• Flower Boat Parade: This aquatic event, to be held in Wuyuanwan Bay between September 16 and October 14, assembles 16 joyfully festooned ships and sailboats that will go on a cruise, during which invited tourists will join in rounds of Bobing. The event serves as a way for Xiamen to introduce high-end tourism, including rides on cruise ships, to the tourism industry.
• Buddha Mountain Dream Coast Floats Parade: From October 1 to 6, the parade will march down Huandao Road and along the western bank of Wuyuanwan Bay. The event brings together 12 to 16 floats which will join the parade, much like similar events staged by Disney and other major entertainment firms. During the period, each day will be themed according to traditions and folklore associated with the day's name: Siming, Huli, Jimei, Haicang, Tong'an and Xiang'an.
• Seminars on Bobing culture: On September 17, seminars will be held in Bobing Folk Custom Garden at Niutou Mountain Park to which 100 individuals with a special interest in the subject have been invited, including cross-strait folk custom culture experts, tourism planning professionals and tourism industry representatives.

In addition, seven supporting events are scheduled: the "Champion" Great View Park mid-autumn folk custom exhibition, the Cross-Straits Gourmet Food exhibition, the Mid-autumn Travel Goods & Accessories Shopping Fair, the 2012 Gulangyu Piano Festival, the Mid-Autumn Honeymoon Festival, the Light Festival and the Mid-autumn Music Festival.

• "Champion" Great View Park mid-autumn folk custom exhibition: The event will take place in Bobing Folk Custom Garden at Niutou Mountain Park between September 16 and October 14. The exhibition, to be organized similar to the mid-autumn temple fair, will include a folk custom exhibition, traditional skills show and a mid-autumn's prayer for a blessing from the Moon Goddess.
• Cross-Straits Gourmet Food exhibition: The culinary event will be held along Guanyinshan Dreamy Coast between September 30 and October 7, 2012 and along Wuyuanwan Commercial Street between October 1 and 6, 2012. Over 60 food purveyors, mainly from Xiamen, but also including merchants from Taiwan, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, will have booths set up along Guanyinshan Dreamy Coast.
• Mid-autumn Travel Goods & Accessories Shopping Fair: The fair will take place along Wuyuanwan Commercial Street between October 1 and 6, 2012 and in Xiang'an district's Dadeng Town between September 16 and October 14, 2012. Forty booths will be set up along Wuyuanwan Commercial Street including on-site showcasing of product as well as an exhibition of travel accessory e-commerce sites. The exhibition will combine direct promotions along with recreational and sports activities. Goods available from various merchants and that can be purchased online will be promoted at the exhibition. A series of special events are scheduled at the Dadeng town location.
• 2012 Gulangyu Piano Festival: This event will be held in Gulangyu Music Hall between September 17 and 26, 2012 and will feature Canadian Music Week, the Gulangyu Family Concert, a piano recital by renowned US pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch as well as concerts by Germany's New Leipzig Piano Trio and a mezzo-soprano chamber music group, among other musical happenings.
• Mid-Autumn Honeymoon Festival: The festival will be held along the walking path bordering the eastern bank of Wuyuanwan Bay between September 23 and October 14, 2012. This activity will feature the christening ceremony of "China's first love bay" and the launch ceremony of the promotion of Fujian province as a wedding and honeymoon destination, including promotions for staging weddings on one of Wuyuanwan Bay's festooned cruise ships, , a wedding dress photography exhibition and a "love on microfilm" exhibition, among other events.
• Light Festival: The event will be held in Yuanboyuan Expo Garden and will feature an outdoor 3D light laser multimedia show, the Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Longhai's four-city Bobing gambling competition, a mid-autumn festival celebration, a wedding dress exhibit, a home and auto show, and a "Dream of the Red Chamber" guqin concert, along with the serving of gourmet foods and the availability of interactive games.
• Mid-autumn Music Festival: The music festival will be held on Guanyinshan Dream Beach and Festival Square between October 1 and 5, 2012. The event, commencing with several special National Day spectacle including the 94-round "in the sky" Bobing gala game "High-speed Battle on Buddha Mountain", the 2012 Miss Tourism Culture World - Fujian Division's final pageant "Glamorous Eyes", a mid-autumn full moon ocarina concert performed by undergraduate musicians from both sides of the Taiwan Strait "Crossing the Strait" and a cross-strait fashion and cosmetics show blending what's popular in both Taiwan and the mainland "Showing Passionately".

2012 Xiamen Mid-Autumn Festival gives attendees a chance to have a close look at and get an in-depth understanding of the folkloric traditions and culture that lend meaning to the holiday, bringing together people who celebrate the holiday from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The year's event will be the launch of the beginning of the effort to develop the brand "Passions in Mid-Autumn, Mooncake Gambling in Xiamen" into an internationally acclaimed annual tourism event within three to five years.

About Xiamen, China

Xiamen is a sub-provincial city of Fujian province, China. As a modern international port and a sceic-tourist city, it is a modern service industry and technological innovation center and an international shipping hub, consisted of Xiamen island, Gulangyu, some coastal areas in the north shore of inland Jiulong River and Tongan, etc.

Xiamen is situated in the subtropical area, with all-year comfortable weather, beautiful scenery and tidy environment. The city has won a series of honors, including "UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award", "International Garden City", "National Civilized City", "National Sanitary City", "National Garden City", "National Model City for Environmental Protection", "China's Outstanding Tourism City", "National Top 10 Most Livable Cities" and "China' s Best Leisure City", etc.