Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid- Autumn Festival celebrates the autumn harvest; it comes on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month at the time of brightest full moon of the year.

The moon festival is celebrated in different ways in different parts of China, though it is most commonly celebrated by a family reunion dinner where sweetened wine is drunk and lotus roots, water chestnuts and of course moon cakes eaten.

Myths and legends abound in Chinese culture about the moon, hence the popularity of this festival. Perhaps the best known myth is of Chang'er flying to the moon.

In this story, it is said that a long time ago, there were 10 suns in the sky, causing great misery to the inhabitants of earth, with the seas boiling, mountains falling and the earth cracking.

An expert archer Hou Yi decided to help and took his bow and shot down nine of the ten suns. Because of this the people of the earth made him king. However, his pride soon lead him to become a tyrant, drinking, womanizing and killing people as he liked. He became much disliked by the people, and seeing that his days were numbered went to see Wang Mu the Fairy Queen in search of the elixir of immortality.

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Contact Information

Mid-Autumn Festival
Various locations
100007 Beijing, SHI

Tel. +861066031185

http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78311.htm