Mid-Autumn Festival

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The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month，usually in late September or October in the Gregorian calendar.

The festival has a long history.In ancient China，emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn.Historical books of the Zhou Dynasty had the word”Mid-Autumn.”Later aristocrats and literary figures helped expand the ceremonyto common people.They enjoyed the full，bright moon on that day，worshipped it and expressed their thoughts and feelings under it.By the Tang Dynasty，the Mid-Autumn Festival had been fixed，and it became even grander in the Song Dynasty.In the Ming and Qing Dynasties，it grew to be a major festival of China.

Sons and daughters will come back to their parents’house.Sometimes people who have settled overseas will return to visit their parents on that day.Adults will usually indulge in fragrant moon cakes of many varieties with a good cup of piping hot Chinese tea，while the little ones run around with their brightly-lit lanterns.After nightfall，entire families go out under the stars for a walk or a picnic，looking up at the full silver moon，thinking of their nearby relatives or friends，as well as those who are far from home.A line from a verse，”The moon at the home village is exceptionally brighter” expresses those feelings.It is also a romanticnight for lovers，who sit holding hands on riverbanks and park benches，enraptured by the brightest moon of the year.

People in different places follow various customs，but all show their love and longing for a better life.Today people enjoy the full moon and eat moon cakes on that day.It is another important holiday for family reunion.