The U.S. city of Millbrae south of San Francisco Monday staged the firs Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival event at its business center area to promote cultural diversity among locals.
The event, presented by Millbrae Cultural Committee (MCC), featured traditional lion dances by a group of young performers, an open space song and dance performance, food, a market fair and a crime-prevention Neighborhood Watch Program, attracting thousands of residents and tourists.
Attendees were able to buy food and Mid-Autumn Festival cakes at a discounted rates, while others tried acupuncture, a component of traditional Chinese medicine, for their chronic pains in the back or shoulder.
"This is the first Mid-Autumn Festival in San Mateo County, it's the only one we're doing here in Millbrae, and we are trying to bring many different cultures together," Millbrae Mayor Wayne Lee told Xinhua.
"The whole purpose of the event put on by (the) Millbrae Cultural Committee is to mix the different cultures and learn by our cultures, so everybody gets a better flavor of our community," he added.
People may not always want to eat hamburgers, and they may want to have different types of menu items, Lee explained, hoping that the city residents will come, meet each other, get out of their houses and enjoy the company of their neighbors.
Lee also emphasized the recently-launched anti-crime program, Millbrae Neighborhood Watch Program, which will mobilize community members to help each other if need be.
"Safety has been a big issue in all the cities and for us the best way to keep your neighborhood safe is your neighbors watching each other," he said.
Millbrae had always been a quiet city with a very low crime rate, said the mayor, "but we always have people coming from out of the city to take advantage of our citizens," who would break into cars and houses. "There were even some gangs coming from other places to visit Millbare," he said.
The mayor said that the Neighborhood Watch Program is intended to keep the low rate of crime in the city the way it was, in additional to first-response services that a resident can offer to his or her neighbors in case of emergency.
Gina Papan, a Millbrae City Council Member, said she was thrilled to see so many people showing up here for the very first time to celebrate the cultural diversity of the city.
Millbrae's Asian population accounts for nearly 50 percent with Caucasians circa 42 percent, according to the latest data of the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The event brings our residents together to celebrate different cultures. That's exactly what we're looking for -- a greater understanding of one another and a greater appreciation for everything," she said.
