Nánhái ( The boy ): Wǒ dài nǐ qù! ( I'll take you there! ) Nǚhái ( The girl ): Yuèliàng hǎo měi a! ( The moon is so beautiful! ) Zhōngqiū Jié kuàilè : Happy Mid-Autumn Festival The best song for this day is of course " Yuèliàng Dàibiǎo Wǒde Xīn " (The Moon Represents My Heart). One of the fun things to do is to make pomelo hat for your pets, kids or yourself, visit here, here and here. Please click on the links above to visit. There are different versions of stories behind the festival. Why? Because those mooncakes and pomelos ! But most importantly, being together with our love and family while enjoying all kinds of fine food and appreciating the beautiful full moon. Well, it's one of my favorite festivals - " Zhōngqiū Jié " ( Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival ), falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. ** New : Move your cursor on the greens, you'll see the traditional Chinese characters. Tea is another great drink to go with mooncakes, especially those filled with lotus paste.** Tips: The reds are linked to related pages. For example, osmanthus flower is a homophone for "Gui," which in Chinese means "wealth" as well as academic and career achievement. The Chinese culture also borrowed the sweet meaning of osmanthus flowers. During the warring states period, countries exchanged osmanthus flowers as a token of friendship. Osmanthus was also a sign of forging bonds and peace. After the ceremony, the younger generation would toast their elders with osmanthus wine, with the latter drinking it for health and longevity. In the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), osmanthus wine was popular while worshiping the Gods and ancestors. Osmanthus is said to lengthen one's lifespan. Osmanthus wine or cassia wine is a Chinese alcoholic drink, sometimes sweetened, which is produced from weak baijiu and flavored with sweet osmanthus flowers.Īccording to historical records, drinking osmanthus wine was very popular in southern China in ancient times. "The inclusion of flowers into the food field is something that has existed since ancient times," says Dong Keping, a food columnist who worked as a consultant for the documentary "A Bite of China."Įating mooncakes and drinking osmanthus wine is as traditional as the Mid-Autumn Festival itself. "In the Chinese Moon Festival, I held my cup until dawn and wrote this while thinking of my brother Zi Youh," wrote scholar Su Shi in the preface of "Shuidiao Getou". Chinese poet Li Bai wrote "Drinking Alone under the Moon" or "Yue Xia Du Zhuo" in Chinese. Many classic songs and well-known poems have immortalized the tradition of drinking wine to mark the occasion. The process of making the pastry was complicated, and its ingredients were not available in every household.Īccording to a report by Chinese tech company NetEase, consuming alcohol was more common than having mooncakes during the Song Dynasty. Ordinary people who could not afford big ceremonies settled for simple dishes and prayed to the moon for a good harvest.ĭuring the Song Dynasty, mooncakes were not a must to mark the Mid-Autumn Festival. They drank wine as music filled the air and poets recited their verses. Rich people hosted festivities and celebrated with huge outdoor feasts of mooncakes, seasonal fruits, and vegetables. The popularity of the practice began to grow during the Tang (618 - 907) and Song dynasties (960 - 1279). Gazing at the moon, or worshiping the moon, is an ancient tradition going back to the Zhou Dynasty (around 500 BC) when people held ceremonies to welcome the full moon. The baked treats come in a variety of flavors, from the sweet to the savory, but only one shape – round to symbolize family reunions.įor decades, mooncakes have been the star of the festive season, eclipsing another complementary, but often overlooked, element: drinks.īesides helping soften the richness of the pastry, the right beverage also enhances the flavor of the mooncake. This year's festival falls on September 24, and people across China and countries around Southeast Asia are stocking up on the season's most iconic food: Mooncakes. Two years later, the festival was listed as a national holiday. ![]() ![]() ![]() In 2006, the State Council included the Mid-Autumn Festival in the first batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage list. It's a cultural event celebrating harvest, and associated with the full moon. China is all decked out and ready for the holidays!Įvery 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, China celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Chinese Moon Festival.
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