Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year. To the Chinese, the festival means family reunion and harmony. It is celebrated when the moon is full, and Chinese people believe a full moon is a symbol of reunion, harmony, and happiness. Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
WHAT IS MOONCAKE?
Mooncakes (“月饼 (yuèbǐng)” in Chinese) are Chinese pastries or baked goods that are eaten during Mid-Autumn Festival; where people celebrate and worship the moon. Mooncake is as quintessential to Mid-Autumn Festival as turkeys are to Thanksgiving.
Mooncakes are round or square in shape, and have a pastry exterior with a dense, sweet filling usually made from lotus paste. Many of them also contain a salted duck yolk. Mooncakes are often sliced into wedges and shared with the family along with Chinese tea.
Fairy Tales behind the Festival – Sweet yet Sad.
I won’t bore you by getting too deep into the fairy tale that surrounds the Mid-Autumn Festival. In short, it’s a forbidden love story between a girl living on the moon and a young man living on earth. They are only granted one rendezvous per year on September 15th of the lunar calendar. Today, we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in the name of family unity and for the hope that true loves can reunite. If you’ve ever wondered why moon cakes are round, this is why.
