September 25, 2007 - Mid-Autumn Festival
Zhong Qiu Jie
or
Mid-Autumn Festival
You know how some holidays are synonymous with a certain food -- think "Turkey Day." Well, Mid-Autumn Festival is so closely associated with mooncakes, that it is often called mooncake festival.
These are the characters for yue bing -- moon cake.
Why moon cakes? Well, Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar year. It is also the same day as the Harvest Moon -- that full moon that looks the biggest of the year. There are other traditions surrounding eating mooncakes -- secret messages detailing a revolt were hidden inside them!
This is a huge advertisement for moon cakes outside a Chinese supermarket. They are sold in beautifully wrapped boxes or tins and then arranged in ornate boxes with shiny satin interiors.
During the time around Mid-Autumn Festival, people give each other moon cakes.
Here is DD at a truck delivering moon cakes.
If you'd like to learn more about Mid-Autumn Festival, I've created a simple kit with some internet links, a few reproducible notebook pages, and a circle mini-book.
The files are uploaded to my profile page at HSLaunch.
There are two versions -- (letter) and (A4).
Look for Mid-Autumn Festival printables at top and bottom of list.
Mooncakes are often filled with an egg yolk.
Some are savory (even with meat inside); others are sweet, made from beans or fruit. [They are about the size of a moonpie or a muffin.]
Are they tasty? Well, some are quite good. These pictured directly above are homemade and are delicious! But with store bought ones, it's sort of like that box of chocolates -- you never know what you're going to get! I'm not a huge fan of them, but it's something that you have to take a taste of each year.
After all, it's Mid-Autumn Festival!
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Comments
September 25, 2007 - Moon cakes
Posted by Kinley
They gotta taste better than bugs!!! :)
Kristy
September 25, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by drewsfamilytx
I think I'd like ones that are sweet. Mmmm... especially if they have the sweet, red bean inside.
The store bought ones look beautiful, but they don't look as scrumptious as the homemade ones.
September 26, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by noahsmom
hmmm middle of the 8th lunar month in china eh?
Hebrew calendar says it's almost mid-7th lunar month ... interesting....and of course our western calendar says we're 3/4 thru the 9th solar month ....
September 26, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson is one of our favorite books. I'm glad to finally know what the mooncakes were all about.
Sandy
homeschoolblogger.com/fallinglikerain
September 26, 2007 - Yummy!
Posted by MOMflippedisWOW
Much better then the silkworms, lol.
Since I enjoy your blog so much, I'm awarding you with the 'You make Me Smile Award'! Stop by to pick it up and have a wonderful day!
Vicki
September 26, 2007 - Kit
Posted by amtell
Great job! This is very nice.
September 27, 2007 - Thank you
Posted by Anonymous
How great to find your blog! I am a homeschooling single mom of two girls adopted from China. Someone from my China-adopt homeschool group directed me to your blog and I can't wait to explore and see what else you have going on - my children REALLY enjoyed what we have seen so far!
Jan J.
October 6, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Mrs. Fields sold a double chocolate mooncake this year. Basically it was fudge dipped in chocolate. It was good. Makes up for all the other ones I ate over the years.
your neighbor to the south,
Beth
http://proclaiming-peace.blogspot.com/
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