It's that time of the year again........Mid Autumn Festival is a traditional holiday which falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese Lunar calendar and this year it will be held on a Wednesday. To celebrate this, all here worship the moon.
The first moon cakes were made around the 14th century and were pancakes with pieces of paper inside which read "Kill the Mongol's on the 15th day of the eight month".
As the name suggests, the day falls in the middle of Autumn and symbolises harvests and family reunions.
Traditional celebrations will be held and families will go to each others places, taking moon cakes to give as gifts. On the night people will gather outside and watch the full moon while eating these cakes. Other activities enjoyed here are mountain climbing, a game with lanterns and in some areas a masquerade is held for young people to find partners as they believe the Moon God is a highly efficient matchmaker.
Many different kinds of fillings can be found inside these cakes and my favourite ones are Peach or Pineapple. The most famous one eaten by the Chinese have egg or a meat paste inside. This year I have seen the famous Green Tea flavour on the shelves of shops. I am still waiting for the chilli ones to evolve, maybe next year :-)
