The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節, zhōng qiū jié)
September 13, 2008The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節, zhōng qiū jié), also known as the Moon Festival or Lantern Festival is a popular East Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness. It is held on the 15th day of the first lunar month which happens to be this Sunday (Sept. 14th).
The typical food eaten (and given as gifts) are the mooncakes (月饼; pinyin: yuè bĭng). The mooncake is in celebration of Chang’e - the Moon goddess of Immortality.
I have tried several varieties of mooncakes but largely I find them kind of pasty and some are akin to eating a hockey puck. In my view the mooncake is the Christmas cake of the Asian world. Alice disagrees.
Standard mooncake
Drop the puck!
Always sold in decorative boxes to make up for the taste
Novelty - The Nokia Cellphone Mooncake
There are four main traditional fillings used in moon cakes.
* Lotus seed paste (莲蓉, lían róng)
* Sweet bean paste (豆沙, dòu shā)
* Jujube paste (枣泥, zǎo ní)
* Five kernel (五仁, wǔ rén)
In recent years there have been many other non-traditional fillings which include chocolate and Brandy. The outer pastry part can be chewy, flaky or tender depending on your individual tastes.
Due to its connection with the Autumn harvest I would say this festival could be considered the Chinese Thanksgiving. As typical with many Chinese festivals you can expect a lot of eating and fireworks and karoake.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you!
Mr.Brown, your boys are so adorable!=)
Has your leg been okay to walk?
I was so surprised and happy to read your note~~’cause I thought you had already forgetten me~~
I’m studying in Langara College, and hopely will transfer to UBC next fall.
As you suggested, I set my principle major in math. I will keep touch with you. And you are a great teacher for me!!
Best wishes to you and your family! Happy ‘mooncake’ festival~ =] haha
Cheers,
Tracey
Comment by Tracey C — September 15, 2008 @ 7:23 am
I’m with Alice on this one man. I loved it when the powers that be at Maple Leaf found it in their hearts to supply us with the free stash of moon cakes! Mich kinda, sorta agreed, but not really. I just tried to get some here in Kamloops but couldn’t pull the trigger when the only store in town was selling boxes (fancy like you mentioned) starting at $26. Hockey pucks are way cheaper. Bummer.
Comment by Kev — September 24, 2008 @ 8:50 am