The Mid-Autumn Festival （Chinese：中秋节）is also called the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival. The festival is the second most important festival after the Spring Festival to Chinese people because it’s a reunion time for families. It traditionally falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. In 2021, the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 21st of September.
Moon Worship and Admire the Full Moon
An important part of the festival celebration is moon worship. It is an ancient tradition from the Zhou Dynasty (around 500 BC) when people held ceremonies to welcome the full moon, with huge outdoor feasts of moon cakes and fresh fruits. Nowadays, people like admiring the fullest moon of the year on Mid-Autumn Festival in China. A good place to admire the moon should be wide and open, high, or somewhere with water. Parks, squares, or hills are recommended.
Eating Moon Cakes
Eating moon cakes while watching the full moon is a core part of the mid-autumn festival throughout China, and is a symbol of family-unity. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the moon cakes were served as a sacrifice to the moon. Nowadays, moon cakes are given as presents to loved ones, and it represent people's wishes to be together during the Mid-Autumn Festival. To learn more about moon cakes, please go to:
Mid-Autumn Lantern
Release lanterns onto the river is thought to bring happiness and health. Children are particularly fond of making their own lanterns on this day. They make lanterns of different shapes and release lanterns onto the river. They don't leave the riverside until the light of the lanterns disappears. Besides, hanging up lanterns is one of the interesting customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival. When darkness falls, locals place candles inside the lanterns and hang them outside. It is said that the higher the lanterns are hung, the luckier the family will be. How to make easy Mid-Autumn Lantern? Go to:
Days Countdown to Chinese New Year
