The Asian Coalition of Tallahassee (ACT) in the capital of Florida, hosted an annual event to celebrate the "Experience Asia 2023" at Tom Brown Park on September 23. The event included performances of cultural music and dance from various Asian and Pacific ethnic groups on a large showmobile. There were also more than 70 cultural relics and catering stalls on site.
Thousands of people came to participate in this event. The tents at various cultural relic stalls were filled with exquisite artworks on display or for sale. In addition to watching performances and displaying artworks, of course, various types of meals were also indispensable. The event was led by Filipino-American ACT President Aileen Ray for her second time. She specially invited representatives from Taiwan and Consul-General Kazuhiro Nakai and Consul Irisawa Kenichiro of the Consulate General of Japan in Miami to participate in the event.
Taiwan was represented by the 92-year-old Overseas Community Affairs Council Senior Advisor Lucy Ho, who delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. The ACT specially sponsored the Taiwanese American Association of Tallahassee to set up a Taiwan booth so that guests could learn about Taiwanese culture. When visiting the Taiwan booth, guests can not only obtain free magazines about Taiwan, Formosa bear tattoo stickers, brochures, small flags, and Taiwan tourist guide leaflets, but also learn about the efforts of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami (TECO-Miami) to appeal to the international community: don’t ignore Taiwan’s contributions, and invite Taiwan-friendly groups from all walks of life to support Taiwan’s bid for United Nations membership.
In the early morning, some volunteers were happily setting up the Taiwan booth. Volunteers took shifts and they were American Mary Smith, second-generation Taiwanese youth Chi-Ray Wu, former president of the ACT and president of the Tallahassee Chinese School Angelina Wai, Florida State University Taiwanese student Nova Yeh, President of the Taiwanese American Association Carl Huang, President of the North Florida Chinese Association Daniel Lee and his wife Wen-Li Lee, former president of the North Florida Chinese Association Liang-Yu Hsia, etc.
The event officially started at 9:30 a.m., and a total of 6 performances were arranged in the morning. In the opening ceremony at noon, the American national anthem was sung first, and then dozens of students were organized and led by Kevin Mao, a student at James Rickards High School, after years of training by Master Michael Zhang from the former Chinese Traditional Martial Arts Center. The students performed "Two Dragons Chasing the Dragon Balls", which created a lively atmosphere on and off the stage. Then, former ACT President Aurora Hansen read City of Tallahassee Mayor John E. Dailey's proclamation for this Experience Asia 2023. In the afternoon, 12 performances were arranged, and the event ended successfully at 5:30 pm.
The program that day was rich and diverse, including Haiqiong Deng, professor of the Department of Music at Florida State University, who was invited as usual to play the guzheng with her daughter Isabel Liu, several dance programs presented by the Yun Dance Group, as well as songs and dances from Japan, the Philippines, India, the Middle East countries, as well as Hawaii. Nan Liu, a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at Florida A&M University, was invited to perform calligraphy and painting live.
For more event photos:
https://link.shutterfly.com/q1NjjosrlDb (provided by Xia Liang-Yu Hsia)
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-BIVUQd1TZQYtbvVcuy10jk96hWvZSc2 (provided by Nova Yeh)
