29.9.2023
The Mid-Autumn Festival, -also known as the Moon Festival- is the second largest holiday in China. The most important holiday is the Chinese New Year, which according to the Western calendar falls around January and February. The Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese New Year are celebrated on the 15th day of the lunar calendar, as it is the full moon.
The round shape of the full moon symbolizes wholeness, abundance and togetherness.
This picture is from Victoria Park in Hong Kong, taken on the 27th of September. Lanterns are hung up in displays and sold independently for people to buy for lantern walks.
Many lanterns are handmade from paper and bamboo. The most common lanterns are goldfish, rabbit and lotus.
Mid-Autumn festival dates back to the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279). Appreciating the moon became more popular during the Tang dynasty (618-907) when the festival began to be regularly observed.
I came back to Guangzhou on the 28th of September. In comparison Hong Kong had a lot more festival decorations in public. Guangzhou is a city where most of the residents have moved to from other cities when looking for a job so during holidays most of the people travel back to their home cities.
Pearl River had a swarm of people surrounding it on the evening of Mid-Autumn festival the 29th of September. It is the go-to place for to gaze up at the full moon.
Mid-Autumn festival is often also called the ‘Mooncake festival’ for it is customary to eat mooncakes during the holiday. Many mooncakes have egg or egg yolk symbolizing life, fertility and togetherness. Eggs as filling are also popular because of their nutritional value. The mooncakes in the picture are flavored cheese, custard, caramel macchiato and chocolate, all very good in my opinion.
Guangzhou library was decorated with simple red lanterns and Chinese flags.
Happy belated Mid-Autumn festival! I wish you all happiness and fortune, stay safe and healthy<3
