Moon Festival

The people of China celebrate the Moon Festival by dancing to music, feasting on food and moon cakes, and gazing at the moon. The moon festival lies on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar year . The reason the Chinese people celebrate the moon festival is because that is when the moon is its brightest.

The moon cakes are a baked pastry stuffed with lotus seed paste and a salted egg yolk. Since lotus seed paste is so expensive, people use subtitutions such as winter melon paste, red bean paste, mung bean paste, mixed nuts, dried fruit, andham. The moon cakes play a very important role in the Moon Festival.

There are some stories that are told on the moon festival to tell the reason for the moon festival.They are The Lady on the Moon, The Man from the Moon, and The rebellion story.

The Lady on the Moon Story

One day ten suns appeared in the sky. The king ordered his best archer to shoot down nine of the suns and he did .His reward was a pill that would make him immortal so he hid it so his wife could not find it but she did so she ate it and as punishment she was sent to the moon.

The Man from the Moon Story

A man spotted at an inn was carrying his writing tablet and asked happy couples questions. He wrote their names in the tablet. When he wrote their names down they were said to be married and live happily ever after. Some couples get married on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar year.

The Rebellion Story

In the 13th century China was overturned by mongols. The mongols didn't eat moon cakes so it was perfect for the Chinese people to pass the plans hidden in the moon cakes for the rebellion. The families were instructed not to eat the moon cakes until the moon festival that was when the rebellion took place.

I got my information at http://chinesefood.about.com/food/chinesefood/library/weekly/aa091099.htm.