Monday, October 1, 2007

What the heck is a "moon cake" anyway?


One of the traditional holidays in China is the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Cake Festival. I have added a brief review of what this holiday is all about below if you have the time or are interested. Sabrina and I took part in this as we put the kids down to bed, grabbed our moon cake, and sat out on the front porch to eat our cake and watch the moon. We could see the moon off of our front porch big and bright in the sky as you can see in the picture below. The weather and temperature was perfect as well. In the busy and hectic world in which we live it really makes you think about the simpler more important things in life. So the next time you look at a full moon - think about the Moon Cake Festival...
The taste for a moon cake must be an acquired one because neither Sabrina or I were fond of it. The closest thing I can explain it tastes like is a very rich fruit cake. Not our favorite by any means...

Taken from a Google search of "Moon Cake Festival":
The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.
The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and the poems, you can't help thinking that this is really a perfect world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival.
The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the festival is if it is a quiet night without a silk of cloud and with a little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romatic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival. Hope the Moon Festival will bring you happiness.
The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky.