Celebrating China’s Mid-Autumn Festival in Hangzhou
Each year on the 15th day of the 8th lunar calendar, people in China and several other people celebrate what is known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Origins are believed to date back to China’s Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BCE), and involved giving thanks to the moon and celebrating the harvest. Today’s modern celebration also includes celebrating the moon as the holiday falls on the day of the fullest moon of the year; it also involves getting together with family, giving thanks, eating mooncakes, and making wishes to the moon.
This year, the holiday took place on September 13, and we were invited to participate in events on the days leading up to the celebration. Here is how we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in our new home of Hangzhou:
Mooncake Making
Like it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving in the U.S. without a turkey, it would not be Mid-Autumn Festival in China without mooncakes. Typical mooncakes are made from lotus-seed paste, salted egg yolk, and lard, which can make a single palm-sized cake clock-in at over 1000 calories. But it’s a holiday that only comes around once a year, so the calories don’t count, obviously.
The cakes are small, round, and made with elaborate stamps that create beautiful designs, and we were lucky enough to be able to learn how to make them. Our Mandarin tutor, Jasmine, hosted an event that taught us and others from around the world how to make the traditional pastry.
So, we lined up around tables, and with the help of a kit, produced our own little mooncakes with flavors like red bean, matcha, egg, and pork.
Two students mixing the dough by hand
The mooncake dough and match filling
The mooncake dough and red bean filling
Using a tool similar to a cookie gun to create the shape and design of the mooncake
A student holding her finished mooncake
Some of the mooncakes that students created
The Global kids with their mooncakes
My finished mooncake with a flower design
Food is such a huge part of culture, and I loved having the opportunity to learn how to create a confection so central to one of China’s major holidays. Throughout the week, we were given several mooncakes from various events.. I can’t say I ate all of them, but I did enjoy eating the little one I made myself.
Attending a Mid-Autumn Festival Ceremony
On the night leading up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Hangzhou Civilization Office and the West Lake Hangzhou Scenic Area Management Committee organized a huge event that brought together foreigners, local primary school students, local artisans, and local university students to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and showcase beautiful parts of Chinese culture.
The event was hosted at the Hangzhou Arts & Crafts Museum, and when we arrived we were given traditional Han dynasty inspired outfits to wear for the night.
The Global kids dressed in our traditional outfits
My classmate, Sara, dressed in her traditional outfit
After donning our traditional apparel, we were paired up with a local primary school child to interact and exchange with in as much Mandarin and English we could respectively manage. I was paired with a sweet, shy little girl named Linda. She seemed a bit intimidated by me, but I enjoyed spending the night with her and other adorable children dressed to the nines in their traditional outfits.
For the actual ceremony, we watched performances by local university students that showcased materials prominent in the Arts & Crafts museum and in China’s culture and history, such as umbrellas, swords, fans, and traditional clothing. We also watched demonstrations by local artisans – right onstage artisans created works of calligraphy, paper cutting, and painting while one woman played a traditional instrument and another performed a tea ceremony.
A performer dancing to showcase the beauty and movement of her traditional clothing
A performer showcasing one of the types of Chinese fans
A performer demonstrating the use of a traditional folding fan
A performer showcasing a traditional Chinese umbrella
In the midst of the ceremony, we took the time to decorate round fans with markers. I decorated mine with symbols of the Mid-Autumn Festival: a bunny, lanterns, and the moon. Linda, my partner for the night, decorated hers with a lovely nature scene. Then, when we all finished with our designs, we traded fans with our child.
The fan I decorated
Sara and her fan
My classmate, Eli, decorating his fan
Linda with her fan
Then, at the end of the ceremony we participated in “fishing for the moon.” This involves scooping light from a basin and making wishes on the piece of the moon that you hold. I was lucky enough to be invited up on stage to go fishing with several kids. It was really wholesome and beautiful, and I found myself really overwhelmed by happiness while up there.
My partner for the night, Linda, fishing for the moon
Ross and I fishing for the moon with the kids
A new friend, Nell, and her kiddo fishing for the moon
The event was a ton of fun, and gave us the opportunities to interact with locals of all ages as well as learn a great deal about Chinese culture and an important holiday. I’m excited to continue to explore Chinese life and culture, and to continue to participate in as much as I possibly can!