Mid-Autumn Festival 2014
This year, Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Monday, September 8th. In China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, a Mid-Autumn Festival (zhōngqiū jié 中秋节) a great time to visit family and relax, as it’s very similar to the USA’s Thanksgiving.
Most people will eat moon-cakes (yuè bing 月饼), and you’ll even see huge lines of people in Shanghai waiting to buy some of these pastries to bring home to family this weekend. There are moon-cakes with meat inside, red bean, and egg yolk.
As it’s a long weekend, a great deal of Chinese people will try to take short trips outside the city. Maybe a quick trip to an ancient water-town, like Wuzhen or Zhujiajiao. Others will just take the long weekend to have a little down time and enjoy the cooler weather after a long summer. Although it’s still relatively warm in Shanghai, it’s nothing compared to summer 2013 when we experienced some of the hottest temperatures in 100 years.
I haven’t heard of any pickup games referred to as ‘turkey bowls’, but there may be some kind of activity. As for me, I’ll be trying my hand at lacrosse with some fellow expatriates. Hoping to snag a couple moon-cakes after the game, and maybe I’ll release a couple lanterns.
You can also check out our post from last year here, which gives a brief history and some details about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Enjoy China’s version of Thanksgiving! Eat plenty, and kick back.