The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday, known alongside the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Qingming Festival as one of the four major traditional festivals of the Han Chinese. The term "Mid-Autumn" first appeared in the book "Zhou Li"; it became a fixed festival in the early Tang Dynasty, and its popularity began in the Song Dynasty.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festive and auspicious "Festival of Reunion", where people commemorate this harmonious and joyful moment with a rich variety of traditional customs.

Worshipping and Admiring the Moon

The Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient festival, and the worship and admiration of the moon are important customs of the festival. Ancient emperors had the custom of worshipping the sun in spring and the moon in autumn, and the folk also had the custom of worshipping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, moon gazing has become one of the most important activities for the common people during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Eating Mooncakes

Mooncakes, also known as moon discs, harvest cakes, palace cakes, reunion cakes, etc., were originally offerings to the moon god during ancient Mid-Autumn Festivals. Initially, mooncakes were used as sacrificial offerings to the moon god, but later people gradually associated the Mid-Autumn moon gazing with tasting mooncakes as a significant symbol of family reunion. To this day, eating mooncakes has become an essential custom for people in both northern and southern China to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. On this day, people eat mooncakes to signify "reunion".

Drinking Osmanthus Wine

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, it has been a custom since ancient times for the folk to drink osmanthus wine. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, looking up at the bright moon and smelling the fragrance of osmanthus, sipping a cup of osmanthus honey wine while gathering together has become an enjoyment of the festival.

Lord Rabbit

In addition to moon gazing and eating mooncakes, offering sacrifices to the Lord Rabbit is a unique Mid-Autumn custom in old Beijing. This custom has a history of more than 400 years, dating back to the late Ming Dynasty. Today, the Lord Rabbit has become one of the representative intangible cultural heritages in Beijing and has become an important cultural symbol of the city.