Mid-Autumn Festival Newsletter

September 2011

Mid-Autumn Festival

Also known as Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, this is the third major festival of the Chinese calendar and is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month. 

While this festival corresponds with other harvest festivals observed by Western cultures, in Hong Kong and China it is held in conjunction with the annual Lantern Festival. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival will occur on the evening of Monday, September 12th 2011.

The festival is also an occasion for family reunions and, as with all Chinese traditions, eating features heavily in the program. Families customarily gather together for dinner and an evening stroll with their lanterns.

Mooncakes

Legend recounts that during the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) a secret rebellion against the Mongolian rule was organized. In order to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered, rebellion leaders decided to use the impending Moon Festival to their advantage by baking secret messages into mooncakes. On the evening of the moon Festival, the rebels secretly attacked and overthrew the government, establishing the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). It remains a mystery as to whether this Chinese version of the “Trojan Horse” story is true, but it did serve in making mooncakes more popular than ever before.

Today’s mooncakes, which seem to be for sale in virtually every food shop and restaurant commencing July/August, are a delectable treat. Traditionally, they are filled with sweetened lotus or red bean paste and often a salted duck’s egg yolk. More modern varieties incorporate flavors such as coffee or pineapple; even low-fat and low-sugar versions are quite common. While its description may not at first appeal to the western palate, we suggest you give it a taste for yourself - you may just be surprised!

Lanterns

The lanterns you see colorfully decorating buildings and pavements are a crucial part of the festival. Usually carried by children, families parade with their lanterns, lit with a red candle inside. The more traditional shapes include the fish and rabbit (to commemorate the rabbit that lives in the moon). More modern designs include favorite cartoon characters, conveniently lit with a battery-operated light bulb to avoid the danger of your lantern catching fire and contravening litter laws.

In Hong Kong and China, any open space or mountain top is crowded with people trying to get a glimpse of this season’s auspicious full moon. Many families climb the highest peak or spacious area after the family union dinner for this nighttime spectacle, so expect heavy traffic during the evening.

Related Activities

Beijing  l   Guangzhou  l   Hong Kong   l   Shanghai

Beijing

Guangzhou

Hong Kong

Lantern installations at the below 3 Carnivals will be open to the public from 6:30pm to 11:00pm on 9-13 September 2011.

 
During present day Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, a 67-metre-long ‘fire dragon’ playfully rages through Tai Hang’s streets, scaring away the evil that persisted over this former coastal village as it did over a century ago.

Legend has it that after a devastating typhoon and plague, a python (son of the Dragon King) entered the village and feasted on its livestock. To ward off the creature a soothsayer decreed that a 3-day-long fire dance be held during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. With an eruption of firecrackers and drums alongside an incense-stick laden straw dragon, the villagers succeeded in their plight. The plague vanished into the moonlit sky and life returned to the village.

 The dance takes place in Causeway Bay - Victoria Park and Tai Hang.

For more information about the activities of the festival in Hong Kong, click here.

Shanghai

There is no special activity for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but we suggest the below places to enjoy yourselves under the bright mid-autumn harvest moon!

At APP, we believe that understanding Chinese holidays and customs helps both newcomers and long-time residents make the most of this vibrant city and its rich heritage. APP has been helping people find great homes and enjoy Hong Kong  and China for more than 25 years. Please feel free to forward this to others who may find its contents useful.

Send us an email for more detailed information about Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong and China.

Mooncake photo courtesy of misbehave from www.flickr.com
Lanterns photo courtesy of Tiamyaium from commons.wikimedia