Mid Autumn Festival

Most Chinese festivals are wrapped in a combination of history and legend, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is no exception.



Chang O
The Mid-Autumn Festival is linked to the ancient fable of the beautiful Chang O, wife of the Divine Archer. The tale is told of how she took a magical pill from her husband and suddenly began floating into the air all the way to the moon! She remains there to this day, and on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, her beauty casts a silvery glow upon the earth!


Moon Cake
During the Mid-Autumn Festival people eat sweet tasting cakes called moon cakes made of ground lotus and sesame seed paste, egg yolk and other ingredients. Moon cakes symbolise the gathering of friends and family and are an indispensable part of the Mid-Autumn festivities. Moon cakes are also associated with the overthrow of the Mongol invaders in the 14th century. The story goes that Chinese revolutionaries planned to revolt against the government on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. This message was passed around hidden in moon cakes amongst the people who subsequently rose up and overthrew the oppressive tyrant.

We ate many mooncakes that day. We even had Ice cream mooncakes from Haagen Daaz. They were delicious!