In 2008, the Chinese Heritage Foundation (CHF) of MN, developed the idea of a festival, titled A Passage to China, to consist of interactive booths at which attendees would be introduced to different aspects of Chinese culture, ranging from paper folding to Chinese calligraphy to mask making. Anchoring these booths would be the more than fifty Chinese cultural organizations in the Twin Cities. In order to draw an audience that would not normally attend specific Chinese events, CHF would take this event to them at a space already familiar to them and one that they frequently visit: a shopping mall. This would achieve the Foundation’s mission to promote mutual understanding between the Chinese community and the Twin Cities community at large.

CHF chose to approach the Mall of America, the largest in the country and, in addition, an international destination. This mix of Minnesotans and international visitors represented CHF’s ideal audience. The Mall liked the idea and became CHF’s partner. For eight years the two organizations jointly presented A Passage to China in the Mall’s rotunda and its neighboring Sears Court.

A Passage to China was an entirely volunteer-driven event, and owed its success to the participation of more than fifty Chinese or Chinese-affiliated, organizations and an army of volunteers. During its final years, Mall officials estimated that the attendance at this two-day annual event to be more than 15,000, 50% of whom were non-Chinese. It also generated much publicity among local media — press, television, and magazines. 

On Day One the festival was opened by the drum roll of a lion dance in the Rotunda. Interested visitors streamed through the Gates of Mutual Understanding and Mutual Courtesy, with families in tow, would meet historical figures, learn to use an abacus, make Chinese lanterns and masks,
do Chinese papercuts, play Chinese chess, Go and tangrams, speak Mandarin, learn to use chopsticks or make dumplings or write with a brush. Crafts projects included making a porcelain medallion necklace, or a print, or a terra cotta warrior head on a stick, pop-up cards, trivia
language wheels, Mongolian flutes, stick horses and ribbon sticks.

Some vignettes: amid the hum, some might say roar, of bustling activities for children at various tables; many adults were engaged in earnest conversations with colleges and universities that offer Chinese Studies programs; watching a quiet painter demonstrate the ethereal and spare art
of bamboo painting near the robust and colorful paintings of a peasant painter from China; a joyous child, dancing with her newly-made Mongolian harmonica whirling past a serious Caucasian American intent on his game of Go with his Chinese host; a serious-minded Chinese scholar pondering the life-long implications of the Chinese name he was about to bestow upon the eager Scandinavian child in front of him … while his neighbor, the fortune teller, raced to put a positive spin on a fortune josh stick that spelled anything but fortune to the child’s mother. And for those with food on their minds, there were cooking demonstrations and hands-on opportunities to learn how to make jiaozi, the traditional dumplings.

The desire to mentor the next generation was evident among many professional artists and musicians who performed in Sears Court. They chose to forgo the opportunity of performing solo and opted instead to share the stage with their protégés. As the audience, quite literally filled to the rafters, looked on, the Mongolian dance teacher danced off-stage in leading her young charges on-stage through an intricate series of turns and tumbles; renowned cellist Yali You performed with student Michael Wu; guzheng expert Li Jiaxiang performed with pupils Jarrelle Barton and Lisa Veronneau; and pipa virtuoso Gao Hong with her Carleton College Chinese Music Ensemble. There were also kung fu, tai chi, and qigong performances.

It remained for the game of Go to show bystanders how direct communication could best be achieved. The host, a young Caucasian in this case, invited an elderly Chinese gentleman to sit down for a game. No words were spoken, as neither spoke the language of the other, but they played an intense game that required resilient communication skills. Trying to anticipate each other’s intentions several moves ahead, they responded to each other with quiet courtesy. In the end it no longer mattered who won – it was the process of understanding each other’s intentions and responding accordingly that made the game so engrossing. What would the world be like if everyone practiced such mutual understanding and courtesy?

The legacy of A Passage to China, a metaphorical journey into understanding one’s self and one’s place in the world, will continue to enchant and illuminate Chinese culture, history and geography in an increasingly interwoven world.

https://chfmn.org/a-passage-to-china-home/