Mid-Autumn Festival

It’s Sunday night, October 8th, and we’ve had a very relaxing weekend enjoying the city as it celebrated the mid-autumn moon festival--our first real holiday in the city.

Unfortunately, both Mark and I are getting over a cold/flu so we’re moving pretty slowly. I had it full force last weekend and slept for 2 straight days, and he has a mild case this weekend. However, we did manage to get out on Saturday to see some of the celebrations. My niece, Katie, back in Salem, Oregon is studying Hong Kong in 3rd grade right now, so for her benefit, I’ll give a little history lesson on what/why/and how China celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival that is also called the Lantern Festival in Hong Kong.

History
The festival usually falls around mid- or late-September on a full moon day that occurs around the time of the Autumn Equinox. This year, the main celebration was Oct 6th. At this time, the moon is at its fullest and brightest, so everyone celebrates the abundance of the summer's harvest. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake, (I mentioned these treats/addictions last week).

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the year (the other being the Lunar New Year), and it is a legal holiday. People gather to admire the moon and eat moon cakes, star fruit and pomeloes together. I’ve read it is also common to have barbecues outside under the moon, and to put pomelo rinds on one's head, but we didn’t see any of this. (Must be in a place that serves lots of alcohol.) Brightly lit lanterns are carried around by children and hoards of people go to see a giant fire dragon dance.

The Mid-Autumn Festival also commemorates an uprising in China against the Mongol rulers in the early 14th century. Legend has it that since the Mongols didn’t eat mooncake, rebels distributed thousands of moon cakes to the Chinese residents. Inside each cake was a piece of paper with the message: "Kill the Tatars on the 15th day of the Eighth Moon". What’s a Tatar? I’m not sure, but it must have something to do with Mongols.


Present Day
So that’s the history of the festival and now here’s my interpretation after having lived through one. Much like many holidays in the U.S., the holiday has become more than a little commercialized. It’s great because, traditionally, offices have an early release day and everyone goes out for a meal together. Yum. The stores use it as a way to market mooncakes and everywhere you go, someone is offering samples and sales. Also, yum. Businesses send their clients or wannabe clients mooncakes and fruit baskets which means the office kitchen is always overflowing with food. The giant fire dragon dance that we went to see was more of an incense dragon dance since incense sticks were used instead of fireworks or something flashier. This didn’t stop the crowds from showing up to see it though. I did find it funny that a Chinese bagpipe troop, decked out in kilts and all, preceded the dragon playing Scotland the Brave. I’m not sure the significance of this, but since Mark and I are both Highlander alumni, we appreciated the music quite a bit. All in all, it shapes up to be a good holiday. Half day off of work, free food, lots of excuses to eat dessert, who could complain?