The Mid-Autumn Festival is a day of family reunions, joyous celebrations as well as ancient legends closely associated with the occasion. The auspicious affair is celebrated in most countries in Asia on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on 12 September 2011.
Mooncakes
The Chinese believe that the moon is the roundest and the brightest on this day which symbolises completeness and abundance of one’s life. There are many names for this special event such as Moon Festival or
Zhongqiu Festival, varying from country to country. Some of the countries have unique customs when it comes to this festival. During the
Tuan Yuan Jie or Reunion Festival in Taiwan, the Taiwanese celebrate with a lively barbeque cookout with family and friends as they gaze at the bright moon.
In Vietnam, the
Tết Trung Thu or Mid-Autumn Festival witnesses an important custom before and during this festival which is the performance of lion dances. Much like during Chinese New Year, the “lion” will come to homes to dance for best wishes, luck and fortune as the host of the house shows their gratitude by giving back lucky money.
Colourful Chinese Lanterns
Although they bear different names or different rituals, most countries celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with the same annual and cultural rituals.
Mid-Autumn Festival Foods & Festivities
The traditional foods are mostly red as the colour represents good luck such as lobster and salmon. Other favourites that accompany the meals are apples, pomegranates, roasted peanuts, pomelo, chestnuts and
fatt koh (sponge cakes). But the Mid-Autumn Festival wouldn’t be as delightful without the colourful lantern displays as well as indulging the variety of yummy mooncakes during this festival.
Lanterns
Lanterns or
tang lung are so inextricably linked to the celebration that it’s often called the Lantern Festival. Some countries decorate the town with
large red lanterns during this day. Traditionally, children are allowed to stay up past midnight as they parade the streets with colourful lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The traditional
tang lung is made of paper and celebrants will light up the insides of the lantern with a candle. Children will carry these paper lanterns on the end of a stick as they illuminate the streets on this beautiful day.
Traditional Tang Lung
Today, the modern
tang lung is made from all kinds of materials such as fabric cloth and plastic. Candles are replaced by battery-powered lights and some lanterns make music when they’re switched on too!
A furry tang lung indeed!
Quite a number of creative manufacturers have also created lanterns in shapes of popular cartoon characters. This year, the Angry Bird design is one of the more popular ones as we stumbled upon one made of
paper and another made of
plastic. The display of these various designs result to a fantastic and elaborate display of captivating colours!
Mooncakes
Families and friends will assemble together to eat mooncakes (round pastries with a thick lotus seed paste fillings) under the bright harvest moon. These delicate little ‘cakes’ are stamped with the Chinese character for “longevity” and some mooncakes are filled with a whole salted egg yolk which symbolises the full moon.
Traditional mooncake without egg yolk
While most people enjoy the traditional mooncakes, many other flavours have surfaced in the market that varies in flavours and designs. We’ve seen mooncakes made entirely of
ice cream and even
jelly.
We’re so intrigued by this
Caramel Macchiato mooncake as well! Much like cartoon design lanterns, today’s mooncakes are also stamped with the face of cartoon characters. Check out this
Doraemon mooncake!
In the spirit of the Mid-Autumn Festival, we at Koolred have mooncakes and colourful lanterns
Koolgifts for you to send to your friends!
Tell us how does your country celebrate this festival? Share with us your stories!
From all of us at Koolred,
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
