12^th, Sep. is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. Our company celebrated it by organizing the concert. Now let us step nearly to this beautiful festival of all of Chinese on the world.

      Monday, the Chinese celebrate the Mooncake Festival, also known as Lantern Festival, Festival of Reunions, Harvest Moon, or Mid-Autumn Festival, (Zhong Qiu Jie). The celebration is held every year, on the 13th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its brightest.

        There are various stories that tell of how the festival started, some of which can be traced as far back as the Tang dynasty in 618 A.D. One legend has it that a moon fairy once lived in a crystal palace and one day, 10 suns appeared simultaneously in the sky. The Emperor ordered an archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. When the task was accomplished, the Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon. It is believed that her beauty is at its fairest on the day of the Moon Festival.

       But the most popular story has to do with Chinese history. It says that during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368), China was ruled by a Mongolian emperor. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to his rule, and set out to organize a rebellion. As the Moon Festival was drawing near, the leaders of the rebellion ordered the making of special cakes; hidden in each mooncake was a message containing a plan for the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government.

Mooncakes are Chinese pastries with a thick tender skin, a dense filling,  containing one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center to represent the moon. Traditionally, mooncakes bear a top imprint of Chinese characters that stand for “longevity’’ and “harmony.’’ The festival celebrated with merriment, dancing, feasts, moon-gazing. On the day of the festival, parents allow their children to stay up late to light their lanterns and watch the huge autumn moon rise while they partake of their mooncakes. Public parks light up with thousands of lanterns in all colors, sizes, and shapes

          We greet all Chinese around the world on the occasion of the 2011 Mooncake Festival