The Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Wednesday this year, is a traditional Chinese holiday that originates from worship of the moon.

As its name suggests, the day falls in the middle of the fall season and symbolizes harvest and family reunions.

The festival, celebrated in the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, has no fixed date in the Western calendar, but the day always coincides with a full moon. It is also known as the Moon Festival.

Legends&Traditions

Mooncakes: A legend goes that mooncakes were first made in the 14th Century, when people exchanged pancakes that were stuck with slips of paper reading "Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the eighth month".           

Matchmaking: The Chinese believe the god of the moon is a highly efficient matchmaker. In some parts of China, masquerades are held on the Mid-Autumn Festival for young men and women to find partners.  

Lord Rabbit: Known as Tu'er Ye in Chinese, the Lord Rabbit is a traditional icon of the festival. It has a human body, but a rabbit's ears and mouth.   

Lanterns and dragon dances: These are traditional activities during the holiday, but are popular mainly in south China, particularly in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong.                                                                  

Celebrations

Traditional family reunion festival, now time for travel

JINAN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- For centuries, the Mid-Autumn festival has been a time of family reunions for the Chinese, but it is now becoming a new time for getaways from homes.

Cai Ruiming works at a construction site in Baoding City, north China's Hebei Province, while his family lives in his hometown in east China's Zhejiang Province. Full story

Mid-Autumn sees greening of China's mooncake market

BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- For centuries, it was the quintessential symbol of China's Mid-Autumn festival, but in recent years it has become a calling card of waste, extravagance, and obsequiousness.

But this year -- thanks to new rules restricting food packaging -- the humble mooncake is returning to its traditional roots. Full story

Vietnam-China Mid-Autumn festival opens

HANOI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnam-China Mid-Autumn Festival 2010 opened here on Friday.

The festival, co-organized by the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, China's Yunnan Nationalities Museum and the Yunnan Institute of Chinese Opera, drew thousands of Vietnamese people, especially children. Full story

Traditional activities to celebrate a different Mid-autumn Festival

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The Mid-autumn Festival not only means that families stay up late, eat moon cakes and admire the full moon, but many outdoor activities are arranged especially for the event. The activities are usually related to some unique folk culture and beautiful legends. Full story

Editor: Zhang Xiang