After Project Kwai Chai Hong’s launch of the rejuvenated laneway with vibrant thematic murals, Bai Chuan Management returns to celebrate the festive and joyful occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival with its ‘Moonlight in the City’. It will be happening in the laneway parallel to Jalan Petaling, which entrance is situated along Lorong Panggung. A variety of unique and exciting activities are organised throughout the month for Malaysians to immerse themselves on the history, culture and tradition of the festivity.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also commonly known in Malaysia as the Lantern Festival, is celebrated on the 15 th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar – as it is believed that the appearance of the moon is at its fullest and brightest. With this celebration, comes a variety of traditions, activities and food that is enjoyed among families. Families come together for a special dinner, followed by gazing at the beauty of the full moon with customary Mid-Autumn favourites such as water caltrop, taro, pomelo, moon cake and a pot of fragrant Chinese tea. Lantern parades are also known to happen during this time.
In the spirit of the Mid-Autumn festivities, Project Kwai Chai Hong continues to radiate its presence of bringing people back to Petaling Street to relive its glory days with a month of culture-filled activities to promote bonding among families, a stunning 10-foot moon set up, and the installation of new Mid-Autumn themed lanterns for visitors to admire and take photographs. As this occasion is one to share with loved ones, from the 24 th of August to the 15 th of September, couples and families get to join in the fun with the wide-ranging workshops planned focusing on arts and culture such as a mid-autumn paper-cutting, travel photography, Snowskin mooncake making, recycled lantern making, storytelling and singalong, Chang’E shadow puppet making, mosaics art, traditional bookbinding with gold embossing and gold fish tabao neon-light art. There will also be a live band performance by singer-songwriter Shin Kay during the finale night of 15 th September.
To add on to the exciting developments of this historic laneway, Project Kwai Chai Hong also welcomes 10 new tenants of various likings to enliven the area. The shophouses will now include a variety of F&B outlets including BarSoom, Bubble Bee Café, Bunn Choon, Concubine KL, Da Bao打包, Ingo, Kokochin, 青青Pandan Republic, Satay PappaSu, Tang Ge Kopitiam and Xing Fu Tang that will add diversity and flavour to the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. Zeen Chang, managing partner of Bai Chuan Management, said: “We are honoured that Project Kwai Chai Hong’s official launch in April brought in a lot of attention. We managed to transform this neglected back alley into an artistic and meaningful place where the public can learn and experience pieces of history of KL Chinatown that are a huge part of Project Kwai Chai Hong. We want to continue to do the same with ‘Moonlight in the City’. The activities that we have organised during this period all contain elements of the Chinese-Malaysian culture. Through these workshops, we hope to educate everyone about the traditions, customs and the overall beauty of the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
Project Kwai Chai Hong remains true to its intentions of preserving the heritage and culture from the history that once lived within its streets. Not only has it become a hotspot for artists, photographers and Instagrammers, but it is quickly growing into a tourist attraction for international visitors.
Its efforts to maintain the presence and history of this place has thus been successful and will continue on with more celebrations and history for the public to explore in the future. With the tradition and culture that closely resonates with Mid-Autumn Festival here in Malaysia, ‘Moonlight in the City’ will indeed bring the thematic murals painted across the walls and the history of Project Kwai Chai Hong to life.
The selection of activities and workshops will be available from the 24 th of August to the 15 th of September. For more details on the upcoming activities and how to register for them, please visit Project Kwai Chai Hong’s Facebook or www.kwaichaihong.com/events-listings.