NEW YORK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, New York City, held its fifth annual Mid-Autumn Festival Weekend Walks on Saturday, offering thousands of local residents and tourists an unique experience of the second most important festival to Chinese people after the Spring Festival.

2018 Mid-Autumn Festival Weekend Walks in Chinatown was staged in the Forsyth Street between East Broadway and Davison Street from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m..

The event, hosted by Chinatown Partnership, a neighborhood improvement organization, featured stage performances by groups including Shanghai Tongxinyuan Dancing Team and New Asia Chamber Music Society Quartet, demonstrations of Chinese Gongfu Tea ceremony, workshops of paper cut, brush painting and calligraphy as well as various stands of Chinese food.

It is the 5th consecutive year for Chinatown Partnership to host such an event to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, or Sept. 24 this year, according to Wellington Chen, executive director of the organization which was formed in 2006 to rebuild Chinatown following 9/11 terror attack, and to preserve the neighborhood's unique culture.

Local community health agencies also provided blood pressure checking, eye tests, dental hygiene service and diabetes testing for the participants during the event.

With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Manhattan's Chinatown is one of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves in New York metropolitan area.