This article is written by Anna Rugg, who is now learning Chinese in China at Keats School.

On Monday, September 12th I celebrated my first Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōngqiūjié, 中秋节) here in China. It is also known as the Moon or Mooncake festival. This is a harvest festival which starts on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. This means the date changes year to year according to the Gregorian calendar (the calendar used in America and most of the West). This was a unique experience when I study in China as we don’t have this celebration back in America.

A Chinese friend of mine says that it is very similar to America’s Thanksgiving holiday, but it has different origins. The moon is a traditional Chinese symbol for reunion (tuányuán, 团圆) because yuán (圆) means round. During this festival people get together (or gather ’round) their friends and families share mooncakes (yuèbĭng, 月饼), the traditional food of the festival.

I have received several different types of mooncakes as gifts during this mooncake season when I learn Mandarin here in Kunming, including some very elaborate and expensive ones. The more traditional kinds have four egg yolks inside, one egg yolk to symbolize each of the four phases of the moon. The fancy ones have stamped characters on the top, remembering the folk tale of how the Chinese cleverly overthrew the Mongols using mooncakes to conceal the messages about the date of their planned attack.

I have tried other flavors of mooncakes, including pastry and red bean paste, pastry and ham, and pumpkin and ham. There are also coconut and mixed nut versions. I think that the nut versions are closest to anything we have in America. They taste similar to a pecan pie. My young boys love mooncakes and interestingly enough, their favorites are definitely the red bean and the pumpkin/ham versions. I think my boys will grow up being part Chinese, at least their stomachs.

If Chinese people can’t reunite with their family at this festival, it is popular to send them mooncakes through the mail so that both people can eat mooncakes and look at the same full moon together. Often, people sit outside late into the night on moon festival day enjoying mooncakes and other snacks and looking at the moon with family or friends.

There are many other legends and folk tales in Chinese culture that talk about this holiday and its origins. Some talk about immortal beings or Cháng‘é (嫦娥) the Chinese goddess of the moon and an archer Houyi (Hòuyì, 后羿). Some people in China still burn incense to Cháng‘é during Moon festival. There are quite a few different versions of these stories. Some of these traditional tales talk about the origin of the Yin Yang (yīnyáng, 阴阳) as well as the origin of another traditional Chinese symbol, the jade rabbit (yùtù, 玉兔), known also as the moon rabbit (yuètù, 月兔).

However, I think much of the traditional origins have now been replaced by seeing it as a day to simply enjoy life with family and friends and exchange food gifts. These gifts can be quite small or extremely elaborate. I have seen gift packs of mooncakes selling for half of what I pay for rent and gift packs of alcohol for as much as one month’s rent. Wal-mart‘s isles are packed with mooncakes, alcohol, and other food gifts, and its parking lots and sidewalks are filled with even more of these items being sold by street vendors. But smaller, less expensive ones are readily available as well, and many people give those to acquaintances during this holiday season. There are many other gift items available at this time as well.