Mid - Autumn Festival ( Mooncake Festival ): Celebrations and Origins The Mid - Autumn Festival is also called the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival . It traditionally falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar
calendar . In 2021, the Mid - Autumn Festival fals on September 21st( Tuesday ). Chinese people have a 3-day public holiday from
September 19th to 21st.
A " mid - autumn festival ” is also celebrated in many other Asian communities besides China . In China , it ' s a reunion time for families , just like Thanksgiving , while in Vietnam , it ' s more like a children ' s day .The Mooncake Festival is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year . Chinese people celebrate it by gathering for dinners , worshiping the moon , lighting paper lanterns , eating mooncakes , etc .
How the Chinese Celebrate Mid - Autumn Festival
Enjoying Family Reunions The roundness of the moon
represents the reunion of the family in Chinese minds . Families will have dinner together on the evening of the Mooncake Festival .
Eating Mooncakes
Mooncakes are the most representative food for the Mooncake Festival , because oftheir round shape and sweet flavor . Family members usually gather round and cut a mooncake into pieces and share its sweetness .
Appreciating the Moon
The full moon is the symbol of family reunions in Chinese culture . It is
said , sentimentally , that “ the moon on the night of Mid - Autumn Festival is the brightest and the most
beautiful ".
Worshiping the Moon
According to the legend of the Mid - Autumn Festival , a fairy
maiden named Chang ' e lives on the moon with a cute rabbit . On the night of the Moon Festival , people set a table under the moon with mooncakes , snacks , fruits , and a pair of candles lit on it . Some believepair of candles lit on it . Some believe that by worshiping the moon ,
Chang ' e ( the moon goddess ) may fulfil their wishes .