At Pistachio Mandarin we’d like to wish you all Happy Mid Autumn Festival or as it’s also commonly known; Happy Moon Festival.
Second only to the Chinese New Year Festival in it’s significance; Happy Moon Festival has been celebrated throughout China and other asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam for the last few thousand years.
Rich in history and tradition, the festival always falls on 15th of August in the lunar calendar and this year it falls on the 21st September under the Gregorian calendar so come with us at Pistachio Mandarin as we tell you more.
Happy Moon Festival in China is a time for family gatherings and festivities similar to how the Americans celebrate Happy Thanksgiving; whilst in Vietnam the celebrations are mainly based on making it Children’s day.
Also known as the Harvest Festival, it’s a wonderful time for families to gather for dinner and enjoy moon-shaped cakes known as mooncakes, as well as a variety of delicious desserts and fruits.
Want to make your own mooncakes?
Here’s a step by step recipe to follow and we’d love it if you send us a photo on how they turned out!
Paper Lanterns and Giving Gifts To The Moon
Paper lanterns are very significant in Chinese culture and during Happy Moon Festivities you pray for the happiness of yourself and your family by making lanterns, flying lanterns or attending lantern shows. People also gather together to admire and worship the moon with gifts.
In China people will gather and greet each other by using this phrase “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival” (中秋快乐 ‘Mid-Autumn happy’).
It’s also a public holiday in China between the 19th-21st September to allow people to have plenty of time to spend together as a family.
How Will We Celebrate The Festival At Pistachio Mandarin?
This year because of the lockdown in Auckland we won’t be able to gather together our students and parents to celebrate but we will be able to share videos and stories via Zoom. We’ll include a link here for you too if you’d like to discover the history of the celebration:
At Pistachio Mandarin we like to teach our students by engaging them in fun activities, songs and celebrating our rich history. We know by talking to students and parents alike that this modern way of teaching by interaction ensures all our students enjoy the learnings; and not only that research shows they are able to retain the learnings more. If you’d like to join us in one of our classes in Auckland, one on one teaching or online find out more here. We’d love to meet you!