The Mid-Autumn Festival is traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which is in September. The festival is the second most important festival after the Spring Festival to the East Asians. Every year, when the festival comes people go home from every corner of the country and the world to meet their family and have dinner with them.

The Mid-Autumn Festival dates back over 3,000 years, to moon worshipping in the Shang Dynasty. Ancient Chinese emperors worshiped the moon in the autumn, as they believed that the practice would bring them another harvest year. The word “mid-autumn” first appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. During that time, worshipping the moon on the 15th night of the eighth month had spread to high officials and rich families. The practice entailed placing a large table in the middle of the yard under the moon, and they put offerings such as fruits and snacks on the table. However, not until the early Tang Dynasty was the day officially celebrated as a traditional festival. It then became an established festival during the Song Dynasty, and has become as popular as the Spring Festival since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

中秋节快乐!