{"id":10399,"date":"2014-09-05T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=10399"},"modified":"2014-09-04T05:15:13","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T09:15:13","slug":"mid-autumn-festival-moon-cakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/mid-autumn-festival-moon-cakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Autumn Festival Moon Cakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next Monday (9\/8) is the Mid-Autumn Festival<\/strong> (\u4e2d\u79cb\u8282 – zh\u014dng qi\u016b ji\u00e9) in China and Vietnam. This fall harvest festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month on the eve of a bright full moon<\/strong> (\u6ee1\u6708 – m\u01cen yu\u00e8) and it’s all about gathering the family together and gazing at the moon. Of course, since it’s such a short holiday (only one day) many people can’t make it home to be with family members<\/strong> (\u5bb6\u4eba – ji\u0101 r\u00e9n). Home or not, you can stare up at the moon knowing that your loved ones are doing the same thing. You can learn more about the history of this ancient festival in this post<\/a> from a few years back.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo from Avery on www.flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Whenever I ask my students to explain their traditional holidays in English class, one phrase always comes up when discussing Mid-Autumn Festival – moon cakes<\/strong> (\u6708\u997c – yu\u00e8 b\u01d0ng). You know the festival is approaching when you start seeing the ads for moon cakes everywhere<\/em> you go. For English teachers such as myself, Mid-Autumn Festival means receiving an ungodly amount of these lunar pastries from students. Some are downright awful, some are tolerable, and some are actually quite tasty. One thing’s for sure – not all moon cakes are created equal. To help school you before this big holiday and help you get ready, here are some videos from around the web about the famous Mid-Autumn Festival snack:<\/p>\n