The scene setter: Materials for a hotpot dinner party are displayed in an apartment in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. It was the traditional Chinese Moon festival, a special day for people to spend time with their family and friends.

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The medium shot: A group of Chinese students sit around the hotpot and share food. The hotpot, also called “yuanyangguo,” in which people can put vegetables, toufu, and meat of all sorts, is a popular way of dining among the Chinese.

The detail shot: A bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce is opened for dipping at a hotpot dinner party in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Lao Gan Ma, or “The Old Godmother,” is a chili oil condiment, with abundant shallot crisps, Sichuan pepper bits and preserved black soy beans (dou chi), and is seen an indispensible dipping for hotpot occasions by many Chinese.

The detail shot: A bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce is opened for dipping at a hotpot dinner party in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Lao Gan Ma, or “The Old Godmother,” is a chili oil condiment, with abundant shallot crisps, Sichuan pepper bits and preserved black soy beans (dou chi). It is seen as an indispensable dipping for hotpot occasions by many Chinese.

Mingmin Xuan, 27, tries out a meatball at a hotpot dinner party in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. Xuan, an MU graduate student from China, said she was mostly vegetarian, but could eat meat when it didn’t taste like meat.