The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Chinese Moon Festival, brings families together to celebrate the harvest under a full moon. The holiday is all about giving thanks, for nature’s abundance and for joyful reunions with loved ones.
Mark Your Calendars
Mid-Autumn Festival 2020 is October 1, 2020. It takes place every year with the full moon that falls on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar.
Mid-Autumn Festival 2020 is October 1, 2020. It takes place every year with the full moon that falls on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar.
Here is a collection of easy activities, recipes and crafts with step-by-step directions to help your family celebrate what’s arguably the second most important holiday on the Chinese calendar.
Jump to: The Basics | Activities | Recipes | Crafts | Buying Guides
The Basics
Attendees can enjoy a number of games at the Mid-Autumn Festival. “One of the games is the Chopstick game, in which participants have to use chopsticks to pick up various nuts and place them in a bowl within a record amount of time,” Matthews said. Matthews said that in the past, this festival has attracted large crowds of students and faculty members who have enjoyed the festivities. For the gamblers out there and all around the world, Moon Festival is also a video slot game developed by Aristocrat. As yet another addition to the large family of Chinese-inspired slot games, Moon Festival brings a real challenge with a high volatility and a lot of credits to win, if.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival that focuses on the spirit of gratitude. So the ancient story goes, the beautiful Chang’e drank an elixir of immortality and flew to the moon, while the archer Hou Yi later became the God of the Sun. The forlorn couple is reunited once a month when the full moon burns brightly from the force of their love. Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated to mark the end of the harvest season, while giving thanks for the gifts of family unity and togetherness.
History & Folklore
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a fall festival with origins in moon worship that marks the turning of the seasons and life’s cycles between new and old. The holiday is one of the three big festivals designated for the living — the others are Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival. Read More »
The Origins of Mid-Autumn Festival Traditions Newest rival casinos.
Mid-Autumn Festival traditions focus on thanksgiving and reunion, themes that should resonate in today’s fast-paced world. The full moon symbolizes unity and offerings are made in the hopes for long life, reunion with distant relatives and new romance. Read More »
Activities
The simplest way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival is to visit with family and close friends, casually chatting under the moonlight. It’s an opportunity to slow down and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. The holiday feels like an all-American evening at the town park or bandstand, just with mooncakes, tea and brightly-colored lanterns.
How to Prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival
In its themes and spirit, the Mid-Autumn Festival most closely resembles Thanksgiving among American holidays. Use this step-by-step checklist to plan a traditional family dinner followed by an outdoor picnic under the moon. Read More »
Recipes
![Moon Moon](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fategrandorder/images/5/5e/547.png/revision/latest?cb=20180224135740)
You’ll see mooncakes for sale in every Chinatown bakery during the days leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Businesspeople dutifully gift tins of high-end mooncakes to clients and families buy their favorites for their own Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. You can make mooncakes and their cousin, the picture pastry, at home with really terrific results.
Moon Festival Games
How to Make Mooncakes
The Mid-Autumn Festival’s iconic food are sweet, rich mooncakes that are frequently gifted among friends and family. Making your own mooncakes at home adds a really personal touch to your family celebration. It’s a delicious and incredibly satisfying experience. Read More »
How to Make Picture Pastries
Though mooncakes are undeniably the Mid-Autumn Festival’s signature pastry, the lesser-known “picture pastry” or “mooncake biscuit” shouldn’t be forgotten. Made at home, they’re a fun afternoon baking project that’s perfect to undertake with kids at the kitchen counter. Read More »
Crafts
Lanterns are a beautiful source of light during Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, as well as a traditional toy that kids parade around under the full moon. They’re commonly shaped into whimsical animals or geometric shapes and made from wire and colored cellophane. Given an hour and a few household supplies, you can create a beautiful rectangular lantern that your child can decorate with pictures, Chinese characters or streamers. The options are limitless.
How to Make a Lantern
Lantern making is a traditional Chinese art that’s kept alive in classrooms and at home craft tables during the days before the holiday. It’s a cherished and widely-practiced children’s activity that’s really easy to keep alive at home. Read More »
Buying Guides
Prior to the Mid-Autumn Festival, it’s a good idea to pick up tea, round fruits and supplies to make mooncakes, but that’s all you’ll really need. You’ll also want to select a few children’s books to help introduce young readers to the holiday.
Best Children’s Books About the Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival really lends itself well to children’s books. There’s wonderfully evocative folklore, fun traditions involving delicious food and bright lanterns and an overall emphasis on spending time with family. A storyteller’s dream! Read More »
How to Buy Mooncakes
Mooncakes are sold with a variety of fillings ranging from lotus seed paste and red bean paste to mixed nuts and fruit. Use this guide to learn everything you’ll need to buy with confidence. Read More »
How to Buy a Lantern
If you’re strapped for time, it may be more realistic to buy a Mid-Autumn Festival lantern, rather than making it. Depending on your preference, you can either stay faithful to tradition or choose a more contemporary design with some savvy online shopping. Read More »
I hope you have a great time celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival this year with these easy activities, recipes and crafts. Please comment below if there are additional resources you would like to see added to the site!
HT: Photos by Jason Lee, Singapore Reference, the Sacramento Bee, Xinhuanet and IUSM Davis. Little caesars sunrise.
Are you ready for the Mid-Autumn Festival? Every Chinese festival is an opportunity for children to learn more about Chinese language and Chinese culture. For the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are quite a lot to share with children. There are stories to read aloud, there is food to share or make, and there are fun tradition to explore!
I am always thrilled to read all the questions from you, your children and students about Chinese culture and Chinese festivals. You have sent in your questions about The Mid Autumn Festival to Miss Panda and here are the answers!
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival with a gif story via GIPHY
Chinese Language and Chinese Culture for Children Q & A: The Mid Autumn Festival
Q: When is Mid Autumn Festival?
A: Mid Autumn Festival is “Zhōng qiū jié” 中秋節|中秋节 in Chinese. It literally means Mid Autumn Festival. Mid Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month every year. Chinese people celebrate the harvest time and give thanks to a good year of good harvest. This is the day family get together and have a family reunion dinner.
Q: Is there a story about Mid Autumn Festival?
A: Yes! There is a well-known folk story about the Mid Autumn Festival. It is a story about a famous archer, Hòu Yį 后羿 and his wife, Cháng’é 嫦娥. In the ancient time, there were ten suns in the sky and people were suffering from the heat and the drought. This well-known archer, Hòu Yį came to the rescue and shot down nine suns.
After that, the archer received elixir of immortality as a reward. But a friend of Hòu Yį wanted to steal it and take it. Cháng’é, Hòu Yį’s wife wanted to stop the stealing and drank up the magic potion.
After Cháng’é drank it her body felt lighter and lighter and she started floating. Cháng’é floated all the way to the moon. When Cháng’é coughed up the magic potion after she landed in the moon. What she coughed out turned into a rabbit. The rabbit’s name is “Jade Rabbit 玉兔.” It was the only companion of Cháng’é.
That is why Chinese people take a walk and look at the moon on the evening of the Moon Festival. Children will search for the shadow of the Moon Fairy, Cháng’é and her companion, Jade Rabbit.
Q: Can you tell me about the man who is cutting a tree on the moon?
The Story of Wu Gang is another Mid-Autumn Festival story children enjoy. Wu Gang is the man who wanted to cut down a self-healing tree in order to be an immortal. Wu Gang tried and tired, but the tree healed itself. So, it is another shadow that kids will look for when they look at the moon on the Mid-Autumn festival.
Chinese Culture for Kids: Story of the Mid Autumn Festival (audio: Mandarin Chinese)
Q: Is Mid Autumn Festival also called Moon Festival in Chinese?
![Moon Festival Games Moon Festival Games](https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/sjm-parade-0205-02.jpg?w=1024&h=738)
A: That is a good question. The Moon Festival is only used in the Western World. The Mid Autumn Festival is one of the four major Chinese festivals and its official name in Chinese is “Zhōng qiū jié” 中秋節|中秋节. The English translation variations other than “Mid Autumn Festival” are “The Mid Autumn Moon Festival, ” “The Moon Festival.”
Q: What do Chinese people do on the Mid Autumn Festival?
A: The celebration of the Mid Autumn Festival starts a couple of weeks before its arrival. Businesses will delivery gift bags of moon cakes, gift boxes of pomelos (Chinese grapefruits), and other goodies to their business partners to show gratitude and appreciation of their services. This gift-giving tradition also applies to families, relatives, and friends.
In China, this time of the year (from October 1, China’s National Day to the Mid Autumn Festival) is called the Golden Week. There are an eight-day holiday this year in 2017 and more than half of the 1.4 billion China’s population, that is 710 million people will be traveling during the Golden Week. Among them, close to 50% of the people will be on the move by cars and many will be traveling to the neighboring countries, like Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. Is that amazing?
In Taiwan, it is very popular for families and friends get together on the Mid Autumn Festival and have a grill (BBQ) party!
What one thing that most of the Chinese people do worldwide is to enjoy the moon cakes, take a walk with the family and look at the moon to see if the kids can spot the shadow of the Moon Fairy, Cháng’é and the Jade Rabbit. It is a precious family time to celebrate the togetherness.
Q: Are Moon cakes sweet or salty?
Moon cakes fillings are usually sweet, but some fillings can be salty and sweet at the same time. The popular Cantonese filing with sweet red bean paste and a salty egg yolk is one example. Many kids enjoy ice cream moon cakes. That is one of my favorite. Yum!
Q: Is Mid Autumn Festival similar to Thanksgiving?
Mid Autumn Festival is a harvest festival and it has some similarity to the concept of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States (November), Canada (October), Australia, the Netherlands, and a similar celebration is also observed in Germany, United Kingdom and Japan.
Q: Where can I find Moon Cakes if I am in the U.S.?
You can find authentic Moon Cakes in Chinese supermarket, in a Chinese bakery, in a Chinese restaurant, or in Chinatown if there is in your city. You can also make your own moon cakes at home. Grandma Panda makes the most delicious moon cakes and I used to help her making them. If you want to give it a try you can follow the video below and have a Moon Cake baking party. Let me know how you like it.
Chinese Culture for Kids: Make Moon Cakes (English)
You might like to explore more Chinese for Kids Learning Resources:
Exploring Chinese Reader eBooks that go with the Mid Autumn Festival culture theme or moon-related topics for young learners. All Chinese Reader eBooks are written with young learners in mind. Short and simple sentences are used with word repetition to ensure comprehensible input. Both traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese editions are available.
Listen to the ebook: the Mid Autumn Festival A Poem! Join Miss Panda to read aloud together!
Chinese Reader eBook Mid Autumn Festival (Traditional Chinese edition)
Have you checked out the Mid Autumn Festival teaching sample unit? Enjoy high quality Chinese language and Chinese culture teaching resources here and share with your children and students. Make sure you tell your teacher colleagues and teacher friends about the teaching resources on our website. For more Chinese stories for kids you can check out Miss Panda’s Chinese Reader ebook collection.
Chinese Moon Festival Games
Also, sign up for Miss Panda’s Chinese Teaching Printable Library and receive update for upcoming Chinese teaching resources.
Chinese Reader eBook Mid Autumn Festival (Simplified Chinese edition)