September 22, 2021
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Currently, I’m taking Chinese classes with LIFE Mandarin here in Dalian City.
As a group activity partnered with Localren, we learned about the significance of this holiday and some of the representations such as mooncakes, rabbits, and lanterns.
This is my Chinese teacher, April. After she shared with us the story of the Goddess of the Moon and the Chinese customs during the mid-autumn festival, she showed us how to make mooncakes.
Mid-Autumn Festival is called Zhong Qiu Jie in Chinese.
Based on the lunar calendar, the mid-autumn festival is celebrated on August 15th which is said to be the middle of autumn.
This festival has a legend of worshipping the moon and celebrating the harvest.
Once upon a time, there was a happy couple. One day, the husband got an elixir from an immortal and brought it back home. But there was only one elixir so the couple decided to find another one and take them both at the same time.
A bad man eavesdropped on their conversation and wanted to get the elixir for himself so he snuck into the couple's house when the husband left. The wife couldn't fight off the bad man so she took the elixir to protect it from him.
After taking the elixir, she couldn't control herself and flew to the moon.
It was then that she became the goddess of the moon.
The legend also believes that there is a rabbit in the moon that makes Chinese medicine. The rabbit became the pet of the goddess and the two were the only two creatures on the moon.
These are some the primary foods eaten during this holiday.
Moon Cakes
Crab
Grapes
Mooncakes can be stuffed with different types of bean paste but the most popular are:
I’m happy that I took the opportunity to participate in this group activity. It was a nice way to meet and interact with other expats as well as learn more about the celebration of the mid-autumn festival here in China.
Until next time, Friend…
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