The actual celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival was on September 30. But there was a great deal of preparation leading up to the celebration. Everyone started cleaning everything: signs, walls, sidewalks, almost everything. About one week before they added decorations and flowers to the buildings and streets.
This is in the entry way to my apartment complex.
The next two pictures are of the entry way into my building.
I have taken the rest of the pictures as I have been out and about in my area. It is very festive and beautiful.
The Mid-Autumn has really evolved into a Thanksgiving holiday where family and friends get together to eat and enjoy the company of one another. Friday and Saturday was very busy as everyone was shopping for food and a gift to take to the home where they would be going to celebrate the day. It seemed like most of the gifts were nuts, candy, moon cakes, wine - things they would use at the home of the host.
I am not sure if it happens every year, but this year their National Day fell on October 1 which meant there were two official days of holiday in a row. Many of the shops and businesses were closed. In fact the holiday lasts until Sunday, October 7 so that people can go home to be with their extended family. It is not a good week to travel in China because planes, trains and roads are busy with people going and coming.
On the night of the full moon, everyone gets together to eat. I don't know if they stay up and watch for the moon to come up or not. They eat a lot of different kinds of food, but included in the food are moon cakes. Moon cakes have all kinds of different fillings, and for dessert they eat a sweet one. I bought one of them so I could try it out. It was really quite good. None of their desserts are as sweet as in the US. If fact the Chinese people have a hard time taking more than a couple of bites of US desserts. I ate my moon cake and Skyped with my family to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival.
I did not stay up to see the moon come up. There are too many tall buildings around me. I figured I wouldn't be able to see it until two or three in the morning. When I woke up at six, I was surprised to see the moon still showing in my bedroom window. A great finale to a very nice holiday.
No comments:
Post a Comment