Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or 中秋節 in Chinese, is the second largest holiday in Taiwan.  It is a harvest celebration and occurs when the moon is her biggest.  So, this year that is today, September 25th.



The Mid-Autumn Festival is a national holiday in Taiwan.  So, that is why we had the four-day weekend.  However, Monday's work and classes will have to be made up this Saturday since Monday was not a national holiday.



To celebrate the Moon Festival, people share and eat mooncakes, BBQ with friends and family, and eat pomelos. 



Mooncakes are traditionally round Chinese pastries about the size of a biscuit.  (But, they taste nothing like a biscuit!) The outside is either flaky or soft, and then the middle is filled with  . . .well, a filling.  Fillings can range from a salted egg yoke to red bean to taro to green tea. 



Here are some of the mooncakes I was given last year:
My creation



~*~*~
And there here are some other pics of typical mooncakes by flickrites who've given permission to use their photos:
mooncakes



~*~*~*~
Another relatively new part of the Moon Festival celebration is to BBQ with friends and family.  BBQ here is quite different than in the States.  Namely--it is done on a much smaller grill and everyone is involved the whole time.  Another major difference would be the food items on the grill. :) (Can you tell what's on the foil in the first pic below?) 



Here are some photos from 2004's Mid-Autumn Festival BBQs with students.
My creation



~*~*~



Pomelos--a grapefruit-like fruit--are also part of Mid-Autumn Festival.  Of course, you eat them, but you can also wear them on your head like a hat!



My creation



Mid-Autumn Festival Pomelos



Happy Moon Festival!!




Photo Credits:
1. Pandan Mooncake, 2. Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake, 3. Snow skin red bean mooncake, 4. 中秋月餅 山水楼 小淵沢, 5. Mooncakes = Yum!, 6. 基隆詠盛餅店蛋黃酥 Yolk Moon Cake1. POMELO FRUIT, 2. Pomelo



6 comments:

  1. I remember that couch! Hey, is that Freda??
    I had the BEST moon cakes given to me this year--homemade with some kind of cheese, then red bean and who knows what, but the flakiest crust on the outside, yum.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sounds fun and interesting!!
    btw, thanks for signing my guestbook on WA! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Moon Festival to you too, Amanda. I hope your day is filled with good barbecue and lots of yummy, fattening mooncakes!
    Cahleen

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks so yummy and everyone looks happy and joyful. I wish my food was that pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It really reminds me about my grandmother, she always turn pomelos into a hat for me to wear it.
    中秋節快樂!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I found your blog today and love it! Very fun!!!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...