September 7th, 2008

18th Annual Autumn Moon Festival Street Fair

Moon Festival celebrations, though still relatively new to the U.S., have been held throughout Asia for well over 1,000 years. The holiday celebrates the bounty of the summer harvest. Each year San Francisco's Chinatown becomes a lively bazaar of celebration with food and music.

A young chinese woman plays the Guqin, a seven-stringed zither without bridges, the most classical Chinese instrument with over 3000 years of history. It is literally called qin yet commonly known as guqin where gu stands for ancient.

A man slowly ponders his next move in the traditional chinese game of Xiangqi, commonly referred to as Chinese chess.

Colorful dragons symbolize good luck and prosperity for the autumn harvest.