This joyous occasion is celebrated by farmers at the end of the summer harvesting season. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid autumn moon, and eat mooncakes under the bright full moon together. If they gaze really hard at the moon, they may just see the beauty of Chang’e.
Nowadays, Festival Moon Cakes is also known as Lantern Festival. Visit Chinatown during this festival and you will find that the streets, shops and houses are decorated with lanterns. Children are especially delighted when they get to carry brightly lit lanterns of all shape and sizes.
Mooncakes are also known as "reunion cakes" as family members gather to enjoy this pastry. Usually there will be a family reunion dinner on this day. After dinner, children will be playing with lanterns while adults look on and enjoy the mooncake with casual talk. Some may go attend festival performances in parks or public places. Others may celebrate with colleagues, friends or even strangers. Always remember it's about unity and togetherness.
Mooncake flavours
Roughly the size of a human palm, mooncakes are quite filling. Mooncakes are meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and shared with family and friends. One mooncake can be shared by eight people. Normally one person will take more than a piece of mooncake… trying a few flavours too.
Mooncakes has a thin tender skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling. The mooncake may contain one or two whole salted egg yolks in its center to symbolize the full moon. Traditional mooncakes have the word “longevity” or “harmony” (in Chinese characters) printed on it. Traditional mooncakes flavours are lotus seed paste, red bean paste and five kernels (5 varieties of nuts and seeds mixed in maltose syrup). Nowadays mooncakes flavours are plentiful ranging from green tea, tiramisu, chocolate, durian, peanut, cream cheese to chicken floss just a to name a few. There is even mooncake ice cream from Häagen-Dazs and Baskin Robbins.
Mooncakes are eaten throughout the month before the actual festival day. They make meaningful gifts of unity for family and friends.
Share a mooncake with someone you love, family and friends.
This year Chinese Mid Autumn Festival falls on 22 September 2010.
Next year Chinese Mid Autumn Festival will be on 12 September 2011.
And the following years on these dates:
- 30 September 2012
- 19 September 2013
- 8 September 2014
- 27 September 2015
- 15 September 2016
- 4 October 2017
- 24 September 2018
- 13 September 2019
- 1 October 2020
Source : http://hubpages.com/hub/Chinese-Mooncake-Festival
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