The Moon Festival

[Randy W]

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Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which is celebrated when the moon is believed to be the fullest, falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on Chinese lunar calendar, which is September 15 this year. To the Chinese, a full moon symbolizes prosperity, happiness and family reunion.
Nowadays, the festival is an outdoor occasion for family reunions to deliver good wishes for future and cherish such gathering and harmony. People celebrate it by sharing mooncakes, admiring the full moon, and playing lantern riddles – a highly-engaged word game written on paper lanterns.
Listed as an intangible cultural heritage by the Chinese government in 2006, the Mid-Autumn Festival is surrounded by both customs and myths. The most well-known myth is associated with Chang’e, known as the Moon Goddess, a symbol of Chinese people’s moon worship.

 

[Randy W]

[Greg.D.]

No moon cakes in our house. The person to whom it might matter most does not care for them.

 

We have some high level Chinese visitors at work next Monday. I'll try to do something nice for them.

[tsap seui]

I'm teachin' lil' rabbit the proper American mooning procedure for moon festival. This evening I dropped trou and stuck my "moon" tightly up against the kitchen window from outside to demonstrate for her the moon position called the "pressed ham".

 

We are really enjoyin' the moon festival. Don't need no stinkin' cakes, either....well "beef cakes", perhaps. I reckon if I lived in China the officials would jest have to shoot me, I am not at all about behaving myself.

[Allon]

She has had a tough time with her daughter. Just back from China, her baggage was lost in SFO. She felt bad about gaining weight on the trip.

 

The festival brought her back. She got all misty. I actually got a hug out of the deal.

[Randy W]

Jiaying actually told her mother that her food was no good, so we are going out for BBQ tonight.

 

United had a good system with lost luggage, I thought. It was lost TWICE on my last trip. As soon as the luggage missed a flight, it would SIT where it was until you reported it missing. Only THEN would they bring it to where you were. So on my way back, my flight from Houston to Dallas was delayed and missed the flight to Hong Kong. So the luggage sat in Dallas until I made it to Hong Kong and reported it missing. They put only ONE of two suitcases on the next flight. So the 2nd bag made it to Hong Kong a day later - they had to send someone on a bus to Yulin to deliver it.

 

But nothing was missing.

[Randy W]

The moon breaks loose in Fuzhou

 

 

 

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[danb]

Happy Moons day to you all. It feels like the Moon Festival is coming earlier this year. I never cared for Moon Cakes. I guess the Chinese do spend a lot of money on them.

 

I was surprised to hear that my friends 's wife was not allowed to bring Moon Cakes back with her when she returned from China last month. They were a prohibited item. I wonder why? Danb

[Dennis143]

Here in the local Chinese markets you find tables after tables of beautifully wrapped boxes of moon cakes. Priced from ~$25 on up to over $100. Leiqin's been bringing home a different box each week and I've sampled each even though I've never really been a fan of moon cakes.

 

The first box was really dry. blah! The second one wasn't bad, I kinda started liking it's sweet peanut flavor. The box she brought home last night was really quite good. It reminded me a bit of our Christmas fruit cakes, as it was filled with nuts and bits of fruit. I didn't ask, but I think each box she brought home was a bit more expensive than the previous one.

[tsap seui]

Neither one of us heathens are fans of Moon cakes...around cheer we eat moon pies...and we drink RC colas instead of beer to wash down the moon pies and shout gambe with.

[Randy W]

 

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China Pictorial

11 mins ·

 

“Moon Culture” and Mid-Autumn Festival: China’s Lunar Love

The upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important traditional Chinese festival next to Spring Festival. It falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar. On this date, the full moon glows brightly. Therefore, gazing at the moon on this day has been a tradition since ancient times.
Chinese people have remained close to the moon since ancient poets expressed emotions. Su Dongpo, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote the lines most cited during Mid-Autumn Festival: “May we all be blessed with longevity. Although far apart, we can still share the beauty of the moon together”.
China has produced many other creative works about the moon. In one folk tale, the god of love and marriage, named the Moon Matchmaker, takes charge of relationships and marriages using a red string; the story is very similar to Cupid in Western mythology—except that Moon Matchmaker is an elderly man with a child’s face instead of a boy with wings.
Among other stories about the moon, the most important is probably “Chang’e”. As the legend goes, Chang’e is a moon dwelling fairy who is usually accompanied by a rabbit named Jade Rabbit.
Before the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the moon in 1969, Mission Control in Houston reported to the astronauts: “Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning is one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang’e has been living there for four thousand years. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot, since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree.” “Okay, we’ll keep a close eye for the bunny girl,” replied astronaut Michael Collins immediately.
Chinese people have longed for the moon since ancient times. China’s lunar exploration project is named after Chang’e. In 2013, the Chang’e-3 lunar probe carrying the Jade Rabbit moon rover successfully landed on the moon, transforming the fairytale of Chang’e and Jade Rabbit into reality.
Although we already know that the moon is a silent satellite void of fairies, on the evening of each Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese people still pay homage to the celestial body and eat mooncakes with their families. While mankind continues to explore the unknown, and become closer to the moon, the tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival continues strong. Chinese people’s relationship with the moon continues developing. Chinese culture and spirit are characterized by harmony, unity and tolerance, which are symbolized by a full moon.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[amberjack1234]

Here in the local Chinese markets you find tables after tables of beautifully wrapped boxes of moon cakes. Priced from ~$25 on up to over $100. Leiqin's been bringing home a different box each week and I've sampled each even though I've never really been a fan of moon cakes.

 

The first box was really dry. blah! The second one wasn't bad, I kinda started liking it's sweet peanut flavor. The box she brought home last night was really quite good. It reminded me a bit of our Christmas fruit cakes, as it was filled with nuts and bits of fruit. I didn't ask, but I think each box she brought home was a bit more expensive than the previous one.

I am sure that there are some out there that I would like but I just haven't found them yet. Lee tells me that they are making some out of gold this year. I guess that's for the Chinese 1%ers. If anybody want to UPS me a box of them I am SURE that I would like them.

[Allon]

The likely reason moon cakes are not allowed to be brought in are that they contain duck eggs, which can carry some food borne illnesses. Same as chicken eggs. Some customs inspectors are horribly misinformed about their own rules and health issues.

 

You can order moon cakes, made in China, off the internet through a "known shipper." That means the shipper is responsible enough to warranty the quality of the item. Of course, that makes them more expensive. But even with that stamp of approval, some inspectors still seem to think there is a clear rule against doing so.

[Randy W]

A new flavor this year (2017). I'm going to hold out for cinnamon apple pie flavor

 

 

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Beautiful Guangxi added 6 new photos — at 中国南宁 Nanning, Guangxi, China.

2 hrs ·

The Chinese #Mid-Autumn Festival (#中秋节) is coming next week (4th Oct), people often give moon-cakes as gifts when visiting friends and family during the festival. There are many flavors of moon-cakes ,which flavor is your favorite

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/beautifulguangxi/posts/1111521278978974

[Randy W]

on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/beautifulguangxi/posts/1112532618877840

 

 

Beautiful Guangxi added 5 new photos — at 中国南宁 Nanning, Guangxi, China.

8 hrs ·

Quote

Today (the 15th day of the eight lunar month) is the Chinese #Mid-#Autumn #Festival in China. After the reunion dinner,the whole family will eat moon-cakes and admire the moon,or go to enjoy lanterns together.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/beautifulguangxi/posts/1112532618877840

Edited September 10, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)