CHINESE PEOPLE OFTEN celebrate the west’s Christmas traditions—so it’s nice if foreigners join in with Chinese holiday rituals too.
Here are eight ways anyone can mark the Mid-Autumn Festival—and our image shows how to “see” the rabbit on the moon (details below).
1.) Eat a mooncake. In the past, these were leaden pies of sweet lotus paste and salted egg yolks—but the new generation prefers small, light pies with a variety of flavors, including ice cream! What’s not to love?
2.) Share the story of the moon goddess. It’s best suited for older children rather than the youngest ones, since it has a sad ending. A beautiful woman called Chang’e drinks a potion of immortality and is separated from her human husband forever.
3.) Get the family together and eat glutinous rice balls, called tong yuan—the name in Chinese includes an element meaning “togetherness”. They are typically filled with black sesame or sweet peanut paste.
4.) As darkness falls, take your paper lantern out for a walk. In the old days, children made their own lanterns and decorated them, but now people are lazier and just tend to buy them. Avoid the horrible electronic plastic ones which play tinny tunes!
5.) Go to public gathering places, where the local civic services will have already hung lanterns and decorated the areas to mark the holiday. Victoria Park on Hong Kong island is always a favorite spot, but most parks are worth visiting.
6.) Look up at the moon. You may see a dark grey shape with two rabbit ears. There are different ways of interpreting the shapes, but we have illustrated one interpretation at the top of this page. Legend says it’s an image of the jade rabbit making a potion of immortality. (In Japan, the rabbit is making rice cakes.) Nearby is a thin-trunked cinnamon tree.
7.) Eat fruit. But not just common ones like oranges and apples. Traditionally consumed at this time are items such as star fruit and pomelos, which are auspicious, and will bring you good luck.
8.) Make sure you live long. To do this, people in Hong Kong drink osmanthus wine or tea. This flower is associated with long life.
And since Hong Kong people have the world’s highest life expectancy, it clearly works!
Happy mid-autumn festival!
Illustration at the top by fridayeveryday.