Chinese Mid-autumn Festival is mostly known as the Mooncake Festival by foreign friends. That's right, but not exactly. Surely, moon cake is the indispensable festive food for celebration; and the festival also has its own cultural tradition deep in Chinese people's hearts.
The 15th day of the eighth lunar month is called "Mid-Autumn", and the night "Night of the Moon". Mid-Autumn Festival takes places on that day when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest of the year.
For Chinese people, the full moon is a symbol for family reunion. Typically, the festival involves families getting together to share mooncake while admiring the moon. Mooncake is usually eaten in small wedges during the festival, and shared by family members. Also, Chinese people send mooncakes to relatives and friend as a festival gift to express love and best wishes.
Moon cake is often made of a sweet bean-paste filling with golden brown flaky skin. And a golden yolk from a salted duck egg, which looks like a bright moon, was placed at the center of each cake. New ingredients like coffee, chocolate and fruits, have been added to give a modern twist to the traditional recipes. Among hundreds varieties of moon cakes on sale now, there will be one right for you.
