1. How to say “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!” in Chinese:Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!“中秋节快乐!” “Zhōngqiūjié kuàilè!”

2. The Date Varies!The date for the Mid-Autumn Festival changes each year, determined by the Chinese lunar calendar, but it always falls in September or early October.

3. It Is Also Called the “Moon Festival”It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month every year, which is a “full moon day”. It is generally believed that the moon is brightest in fall, therefore Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Moon Festival.

4. An Important Day for Family Reunions

Besides Chinese New Year (the Spring Festival), Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important festival for family reunions. Every year, wherever people are, when the festival comes, they always try their best to go back home from every corner of the world to celebrate the festival with their families and have dinner with them.

The reunion dinner is one of the most important activities that Chinese celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with. People usually celebrate the festival when it’s dark, so they can enjoy a grand dinner while appreciating the bright full moon, chatting and laughing.

5. Eating Mooncakes is highly symbolic!Eating mooncakes is one of the most popular traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes completeness and togetherness. A full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and reunion for the whole family. Mooncakes, which are round like a full moon, also symbolize family reunion. Therefore eating mooncakes together under the mid-autumn moon signifies the unity of a family. It is a way to express familial love, and best wishes for better lives.

A month before the festival, mooncakes of various flavors are sold in supermarkets. People buy mooncakes for their families, relatives, and friends to send best wishes. The fillings inside of the round pastries include nuts, red beans, lotus seed paste, egg yolk, fruits, vegetables, seafood, and chocolate.

6. The Harvest Moon Festival is Not Always on the Harvest Moon Night!Actually, Mid-Autumn Festival does not always occur perfectly on the night of the harvest moon, which is contrary to popular belief. The Chinese lunar calendar does not coincide perfectly with the cycles of the moon. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month is always within two days of the harvest moon night though.

7. It Is Also Celebrated in Other Asian CountriesThe Mid-Autumn Festival is not only celebrated in China, but is also traditionally celebrated in other Asian countries, like Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia, with many interesting local activities.

8. Mid-Autumn Festival was once China’s “Valentine’s Day”!In ancient times, Mid-Autumn Festival was another Chinese “Valentine’s Day”, alongside the Double Seventh Festival. Singles used to pay homage to “the old man in the moon” — the god who unites people in marriage — and prayed for his help finding true love and getting married soon.

Source: www.chinahighlights.com