Honk Kong: Mid Autumn Festival

This festival is one of the most important Chinese holidays in Hong Kong. It is also known as the Moon Festival or in Chinese, Zhongqiujie (???).
It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar and is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar.

In the old days, farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this day. This festival is also celebrated in other asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. This is also the date when Israel celebrate Sukot, one of their three biblically-mandated holidays.

For Chinese people, they believe that it is a day when the moon is the biggest, roundest and brightest in a year. And the full round moon makes people think of family reunion. So, on this festive day, members of the family will try to get together to have dinner and spend time chatting and eating the Moon Cakes under the beautiful moonlight.

Mid Autumn Festival - The Legend

Today, besides the above legends and historial story, people in Hong Kong like to spend time outdoor or on the beaches under the moon. You will see lanterns every where as declaration and children carry their lovely cartoon or animal like lanterns after dinner in the park. People will take this precious good time to gather with their family and friends since the weather around this festival is always dry and cool after the long hot summer time.

During the festival, Hong Kong?s tourism department would always spend money to organize attractions such as lantern carival and displays in districts all over the territory.

One of the centerpieces is the Tsim Sha Tsui harborfront lantern exhibition in 2010, called "The Rhapsody of Hong Kong Memories," showing typical scenes from 1960s Hong Kong rendered in the form of oversized lanterns.

Further, the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance (near Causeway Bay) has been an annual event since 1880 when a villager had a dream that parading a mock serpent covered in incense sticks would rid the neighborhood of plague. Today the event brings together residents in gentrifying Tai Hang with clangs of Chinese percussive music and cheers for the hard-working dancers.