Mid-Autumn Festival around Beijing

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.

Story of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in October in Gregorian calendar.

The festival has a long history. In ancient China, emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. Historical books of the Zhou Dynasty had had the word "Mid-Autumn". Later aristocrats and literary figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full, bright moon on that day, worshipped it and expressed their thoughts and feelings under it. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Mid-Autumn Festival had been fixed, which became even grander in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, it grew to be a major festival of China.

Folklore about the origin of the festival go like this: In remote antiquity, there were ten suns rising in the sky, which scorched all crops and drove people into dire poverty. A hero named Hou Yi was much worried about this, he ascended to the top of the Kunlun Mountain and, directing his superhuman strength to full extent, drew his extraordinary bow and shot down the nine superfluous suns one after another. He also ordered the last sun to rise and set according to time. For this reason, he was respected and loved by the people and lots of people of ideals and integrity came to him to learn martial arts from him. A person named Peng Meng lurked in them.

Hou Yi had a beautiful and kindhearted wife named Chang E. One day on his way to the Kunlun Mountain to call on friends, he ran upon the Empress of Heaven Wangmu who was passing by. Empress Wangmu presented to him a parcel of elixir, by taking which, it was said, one would ascend immediately to heaven and become a celestial being. Hou Yi, however, hated to part with his wife. So he gave the elixir to Chang E to treasure for the time being. Chang E hid the parcel in a treasure box at her dressing table when, unexpectedly, it was seen by Peng Meng.

One day when Hou Yi led his disciples to go hunting, Peng Meng, sword in hand, rushed into the inner chamber and forced Chang E to hand over the elixir. Aware that she was unable to defeat Peng Meng, Chang E made a prompt decision at that critical moment. She turned round to open her treasure box, took up the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp. As soon as she swallowed the elixir her body floated off the ground, dashed out of the window and flew towards heaven. Peng Meng escaped.

When Hou Yi returned home at dark, he knew from the maidservants what had happened. Overcome with grief, Hou Yi looked up into the night sky and called out the name of his beloved wife when, to his surprise, he found that the moon was especially clear and bight and on it there was a swaying shadow that was exactly like his wife. He tried his best to chase after the moon. But as he ran, the moon retreated; as he withdrew, the moon came back. He could not get to the moon at all.

Thinking of his wife day and night, Hou Yi then had an incense table arranged in the back garden that Chang E loved. Putting on the table sweetmeats and fresh fruits Chang E enjoyed most, Hou Yi held at a distance a memorial ceremony for Chang E who was sentimentally attached to him in the palace of the moon.

When people heard of the story that Chang E had turned into a celestial being, they arranged the incense table in the moonlight one after another and prayed kindhearted Chang E for good fortune and peace. From then on the custom of worshiping the moon spread among the people.

People in different places follow various customs, but all show their love and longing for a better life. Today people will enjoy the full moon and eat moon cakes on that day.

The moon looks extremely round, big and bright on the 15th day of each lunar month. People selected the August 15 to celebrate because it is a season when crops and fruits are all ripe and weather pleasant. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, all family members or friends meet outside, putting food on tables and looking up at the sky while talking about life. How splendid a moment it is!

This information can be found on the following site on the Internet: http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78311.htm

Wedding Day Celebration

I was sitting in my apartment on Saturday when I heard a great deal of commotion.  At first I thought there was a problem between some people, but it turned out to be a wedding celebration.  All of the wedding party arrived in seven red convertibles.  There were many people at the restaurant waiting for the couple and showered them with colorful confetti.  Please notice the beautiful flower arrangement of red roses on the couple's car.  When I was in Germany - many, many, many years ago - they used roses to decorate the car by putting them on the dashboard, in the back window and anywhere else they could attach them - only they had a black car so it was very dramatic.  How did we digress so far in America to tin cans, shoe polish and filling the car with paper.  I hope this is one bit of our culture the other countries never pick up.

 Just great family pictures on the steps of the restaurant.

And they lived happily ever after.

The Rest of the Hong Kong Visit

I forgot to add one thing that happened at The Peak.  After I had looked around at everything, I decided I would treat myself to an Italian gelato.  Then I wandered over to a spot for one last look at the view.  I stood by a group of tourists who were receiving their information from the tour guide in German.  I stayed with them a little while just to hear a language I could somewhat understand.  Who would think that I would be standing in China, eating an Italian ice and listening to people speaking German.  Small world!

 Then I made my way back down into the city.  I was trying to capture some of the amazing architecture all around me.  I love the building in the third picture.  Someone had fun designing it.  There were many beautiful fountains everywhere too.

I had a little time before going to pick up my visa, so I decided I wanted to see the area from the harbor perspective.  These are all taken at the harbor looking at Kowloon across the way.  Once again the misty day didn't make for the best pictures, but at least I got a look at everything from sea level.  The center picture is of their big auditorium.

About 2:00 p.m. I went to the visa office to pick up my visa and passport.  I didn't think it would take too long, and then I would be on my way to the temple.  Imagine my shock when the lady said I owed 1400 Hong Kong dollars (about $200 US) and not 600 HKD.  I had only brought 1400 HKD and had already spent about 300.  I tried not to panic - remember the part where I said this was going to be another exciting heart-stopping experience.  Well this was the heart-stopping part.  I located a couple of big banks in the area to see if they would let me use my credit cards.  They said they could only do it if I had a passport to show them.  I finally found one place that said I could use my Visa card, but then I couldn't remember my pin number.  After a couple of hours, I decided to just go over to the Temple Patron Facility, check in and go to the temple.  I needed to find someplace where I would feel a little peace.  After a temple session, much prayer, and a little sleep, I was guided in finding the money so I could pay for my passport and then pick up the money that Kim had wired to me.  I don't think I want that kind of an experience again - much too hard on the body and nerves.


I traveled to Kowloon with the subway.  I had no idea where to go when I got to my stop, but imagine my surprise when a woman walked by with a name tag on.  (She works in the mission office.)  She told me  which exit to use and the roads to follow to get to the temple and temple facilities.  It was very comforting that the last road was called "Devon."  What a coincidence!

This was my first sight of the temple.  I must admit I cried a little bit just seeing it there ahead of me.  I went inside and checked in and then took my things across the street.

These are pictures of the building across the street from the temple.  It houses one chapel facility, the Hong Kong Mission headquarters, a distribution center and the Temple Patron Facility - which is on the left side of the building on the 3rd floor.  There are eight rooms with eight beds and a bathroom for each of the rooms, plus a kitchen area.  There were only four in my room and five others in other places.  Some of the rooms were being used for a new group of missionaries who had just arrived on their missions.

These are pictures of some of the people who were staying there too.  I didn't get to know the girl in the white because she came as I was leaving.  The three young people at the table were from Mongolia.  The two sitting across from each other are married, and woman is the sister to the other young man.  All of them filled missions.  The brother went to the Washington DC mission, and married couple served in Mongolia.  They are wonderful representatives of the church and their country.

Margaret is the name of the young woman in the picture.  She is from Beijing too, and could speak wonderful English.  It was a joy to get to know her and feel her spirit.

I couldn't visit Hong Kong without getting a picture of a door.  It is the entrance into the Graduate Studies of Confucius.  Just happened to be on Devon Street.

Last, but definitely not last, some pictures of the temple.  It is very beautiful and very peaceful.  I wasn't able to do 25 sessions like the German saints, but I was able to do quite a few. Each visit filled me with renewed strength.  It was a wonderful way to spend four days.

 Thus ended my Hong Kong trip.  I have a visa for a little longer - still no work permit, but the people I'm working with say it should happen soon.  I want to thank Marne for helping me find the hotel and getting me maps that made getting around much easier, and Kim for doing a lot of running around so she could wire me money.  I got back to Beijing at about 12:30 a.m. on Friday night.  I must admit it was good to be home.

Tuesday Morning in Hong Kong

I had a great breakfast at the hotel and then started on my morning adventure.  I decided I would ride the funicular (cable car) to The Peak - the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island.  Once again the concierge told me the bus to take and which stop to get off of in order to reach my destination.  Once I left the bus stop, I had to walk about three or four blocks to catch the funicular.

Pictures out the window on the way up to the top.

When I reached the end of the cable car run, I could see that I really wasn't at the peak of the mountain, so I decided I would follow the road up a little higher.  I think it was a little less than a mile before the road ran out, but in the meantime I was able to see some beautiful scenes on my way there and back.

Scenes from the backside of Hong Kong Island.

 There was a beautiful little park on the way to the top.

 Some little sparrows that didn't even care I was standing right above them taking their picture.  They were having too much fun in the puddle of water.

I discovered that I still didn't make it to the peak.  I would have had to hike on a trail for about 20 more minutes to reach the very top.  But I did take a picture.  Maybe another time.

It was a hazy day so the pictures from the top aren't as good as they could be on a bright, clear day.

Looking down at Hong Kong and across the bay to Kowloon.

So I guess I wouldn't call The Peak a mountain - at least compared to the mountains in my back yard in Utah, but it is high for this area.  

 This picture shows how steep the grade of the cable car is compared to the buildings around it.