A glimpse of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon could be experienced last night during the 2005 Moon Festival and National Day Evening Program in HUB Alumni Hall.

Hosted by the Penn State University Chinese Friendship Association (CFA), the event was intended to create an opportunity for the Chinese community to get together with old friends and also meet new ones, Jianfeng Guo, CFA president, said.

Translatable to the United States' Thanksgiving, the festival gives the local Chinese population an opportunity to get together while they are away from home, Yingxian Wu, entertainment chair of CFA, said.

Wu added that most attendees are graduate students who don't have the opportunity to spend the holiday with their friends and family in China.

Vivid dances, original artwork and ethnic food created the atmosphere for about 400 attendees.

"It's a chance to get very Chinese things and very traditional Chinese performances," Huining Xu (graduate-integrated bioscience) said.

The performance-based event consisted of 13 routines varying from martial arts to magic. CFA volunteers, State College organizations and professionals were all active in the festivities.

Guo said the Xiang Sheng, or comic dialogues, were particularly strong performances.

Ruomeng Pang (freshman-engineering) came up with an idea for one of the comedies and spent more than two weeks preparing the skit with fellow volunteers. The performance included music from the Backstreet Boys as well as celebrity impersonations.

Although the festival was designed around Chinese heritage and culture, American pieces also added to the evening.

The Penn State Swing Dancing Club as well as modern dancers participated in the event.

Lei Zhang, CFA vice president, said that the festival changes every year and includes volunteers from numerous Asian descents.

Guo said there are about 2,000 people in the State College Chinese community.

"We want to unionize the people here and bring them together," Wu said.

This year, the program also recognized a local family for their contribution to the State College Chinese community.

Ding Zhou, CFA organization head, said he was one of many Chinese students hosted by the Cluster family and wanted to emphasize the importance of host families and their contributions.

Although the actual lunar holiday was Sept. 18, the event is usually postponed because it's completely run by volunteer graduate students who have busy schedules, and because Oct. 1 is National Day, Wu said. National Day is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The festival encompasses both holidays and is open to anyone.

The next event organized by the CFA will be the Spring Festival held in February.