Mid-Autumn Festival

Here is the story behind the Mid-Autumn Festival which is going on this weekend in Hong Kong. The story is interesting, and the fact that we get Monday off is fantastic. There are millions of paper lanterns hung inside and outside of all the buildings in Hong Kong, and there will be dragon parades in the evenings all weekend. For Amy Tan readers, this is also the festival during which mooncakes are eaten. This story comes from Lilian Wong one of the Year one teachers who has lived in Hong Kong most of her life.

Mid-Autum Festival

The story of Hou Yi and Cheng'e is a famous legend associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival and the moon. In addition to Cheng'e, some people say that there is a rabbit and an old man on the moon. Do you believe that? Do you know what is actually on the moon?

Most of us eat moon cakes during this festival. Do you know there is a story behind this popular sweet food? In the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese leaders planned to overthrow the corrupt Mongolian government. They made special cakes for the coming August Moon Festival. Messages were inserted into the cakes, telling people to start a coup together on the night of the Moon Festival. Finally, they succeeded. To commemorate this, Chinese people started eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Try the game "Message in the Mooncakes" below and learn some cool phrases and idioms with "moon" and "cake"!