On October 1st we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival here in Hong Kong. For us that meant a 4 day weekend!!! But, there is much more to this festival than that.
The mid autumn festival is also known as the Lantern Festival, the Moon Cake Festival or the Moon Festival. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese Calendar close to the Autumnal Equinox.
There are several popular traditions that accompany the Mid Autumn Festival. One of which is moon cakes. Below I have posted some pictures of traditional moon cakes which are, to be blunt, disgusting. The first time I tried a traditional moon cake I took a huge bite and wanted to spit it out. I didn't realize that the big yummy looking center was an egg. The combination of sweet outside and an egg yolk center did not compute with my taste buds. They also have "icy moon cakes" or "snowy moon cakes" which are delicious. They are kept frozen or refrigerated and have a variety of flavored centers that include chocolate, red bean, and hazel nut. These are in fact down right delicious. Many parents brought moon cakes to the teachers at school. The "icy moon cake" varieties are not cheap.
Another part of the tradition is lanterns. At school there were lanterns hung on the ceiling for the children. There were many different types that included Hello Kitty and Garfield. While at Victoria Park we witnessed many families spending time with each other with lit lanterns and candles.
Traditional Chinese attire and Dragon Dances also happen during this festival. It was very interesting to see the amount of people at Victoria Park. It was extremely overwhelming just to cross the street to get into the park with the amount of people walking around. A friend we were with has blonde hair and a family stopped her to ask if she could take a picture holding their baby. It is said that blonde hair is like gold!
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