Moon Festival

     Today is the Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival in China.  This holiday is second in importance only to the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and dates back at least 3,000 years.  The Moon Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month and is a public holiday.  Some workers get 3 days off beginning today.

     The Moon Festival is a time of family reunions.  Traditionally people eat moon cakes and enjoy watching the moon together.  If people aren't able to be with their loved ones on the Moon Festival, they derive a sense of togetherness from knowing that the other is watching the moon, too.

     After a rainy afternoon, the clouds have thinned tonight and there is a now moist-looking moon in the sky.  I stepped out on our balcony about 9:30 and heard some fireworks in the distance, as well as lots of excited little people's and their parents' voices coming from the boardwalk down by the bay.
     We three dull Americans are not out watching the moon tonight, but instead are sitting in the glow of our computer screens.  We did, however, have a family reunion of sorts:  Terry arrived home this afternoon after several days of work in Shanghai.

This was a scene this morning about a 40-minute walk from our apartment.  There were lots of families out having fun together, like these kids and their grown-ups riding the goofy battery-powered animals around the plaza.  The red lantern decorations are ubiquitous at Moon Festival time.  On the pole you can see an image of Lady Chang Er, the star of a Moon Festival legend.

Here's Leah with a sample of moon cakes, which are sold in most every store for the month or so preceding the Moon Festival.  Not only are they round and yellow like the moon, but they're supposed to be made with 4 egg yolks, representing the 4 phases of the moon.  Most of them are sweet, filled with sweet bean or lotus seed paste, not necessarily flavors that appeal to the western palate.  Companies buy boxes of them to give to their clients.





     There's a legend that goes with the moon cakes.  700-some years ago, the leader of a rebellion against the Yuan dynasty ordered special cakes to be baked for the upcoming Moon Festival.  Baked inside of each cake was a hidden message with a battle plan.  The rebels attacked on the night of the Moon Festival and overthrew the government, which paved the way for the Ming dynasty to come into power.  Moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.