快乐的中秋节！Happy Mid-Autumn (Zhongqiu) Festival!

[JohnB]

my wife pleasantly reminded me not to forget this important Mid-Autumn Festival day arriving 27 Sept. so, I safely did no forget.

China’s Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on month 8 day 15 of China’s lunar calendar (in September or October). Mid-Autumn Festival 2015 is on September 27. Chinese people will have a two-day holiday: the weekend of September 26–27, which is no different to a normal week for most office workers.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival to Chinese people after the Spring Festival. Every year, when the festival comes, Chinese go home from every corner of the country and the world for family reunions.
Chinese people believe the full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion. On Mid-Autumn night the harvest moon is supposed to be the brightest and fullest of the year, so the festival is also known as the "Day of Reunion" and the "Moon Festival".

How Mid-Autumn Festival Began
The Mid-Autumn Festival has a history of over 3,000 years, dating back to moon worship in the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). It‘s such an important festival that many poems were written about it, stories and legends on the festival are widespread, and its origins have been guessed at and explained by generations of Chinese.

How the Chinese Celebrate Mid-Autumn
Many traditional and meaningful celebrations are held in most households in China and China's neighboring countries, like having dinner with family, admiring the full moon, eating mooncakes, and lighting up kongming lanterns.

Mooncakes — the Must-Eat Mid-Autumn Treat
Mooncakes are traditional Chinese pastries eaten to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival typically involves much giving, receiving, and eating of mooncakes.
Chinese mooncakes are the traditional dessert/snack of Mid-Autumn Festival. They are round in shape, like the full harvest moon of Mid-Autumn’s evening. Up to 10 cm (4 inches) wide and 5 cm (2 inches) deep, most mooncakes consist of a pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling.
Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges, and shared by family members, generally with Chinese tea.

http://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival.htm 

[JohnB]

forgot to mention, there is a 'super moon' eclipse the evening of the 27th, the 'max eclipse'  UTC/GMT is Sep 28 at 2:47:09AM, for me, Sep 27 at 7:47:09 PM. 
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2015-september-28

most unfortunate that China will not be witness to the eclipse. it would have been one helluva Zhongqui!

[JohnB]

it is 2016! I would be remiss if I do not bring this China holiday into play.. the
mid- Autumn Festival! if luck would have at it, I will be arriving in Beijing on the 15th.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Gazing at and Appreciating the Moon
In celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is an important traditional custom for all participants to
gaze at and appreciate the glorious full moon while it is at its brightest and roundest point of the
whole year. This has been a classic activity since ancient times. The custom of appreciating the moon
originated from a memorial ceremony that was held during which sacrifices were offered to the dear moon.

These customs started in the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-420) and gradually became popular and prosperous
in the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1279). On that day, the people would prepare all kinds of fruits and
moon cakes on tables in their courtyards while they appreciated the moon, praying for the moon to provide
them with blessings.

Today, people still maintain the tradition of revering the moon during the Chinese Moon Festival. Those who
are away from home and cannot typically visit their loved ones easily tend to make every effort to go back
home for this festival, a rare moment when they can appreciate nature’s beauty and the joy of life with their
family members who are otherwise thousands of miles away. To this day, it is believed that the moon can
help send love, best wishes, and greetings to family members far away.

The most recommendable places for appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival include Mount Lu,
Mount Huang, Yangtze River, West Lake, Mount Emei, Dongting Lake, and Elephant Trunk Hill, all fine
destinations found throughout China, where visitors can feast their eyes with the natural beauty and also
social atmosphere around them.

Eating Moon Cakes
Moon cakes (月饼), play a vital and significant role in the Chinese Moon Festival as an indispensable food
that day. The round moon cakes, which were traditionally used as sacrificial offerings for the Moon God, are
considered nowadays as symbols of family reunion.

The stuffing inside the saccharine pastries generally include pine nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame
seeds, crystal sugar, egg yolk, bean paste, lotus seed, peanuts, almonds, and many other delicacies.
Blended together in various combinations, they taste rich but not. During the festival, it is also common for
the Chinese to give moon cakes to their relatives and friends as presents, expressing their love and kind regards.


According to legend, eating moon cakes as a celebration originates from the Tang Dynasty. In the reign of
Emperor Tang Gaozu, the great imperator Li Jing successfully squashed the Hun revolts and came back to
his home on August 15 of the Chinese lunar calendar.

In celebration of his triumphant return, a businessman from Tubo offered a special kind of cake to the
emperor. The emperor spoke highly of the cake and granted a share of the delights to his ministers. From
then on, the eating of moon cakes and celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival have come hand in hand. 

http://www.chinatravel.com/focus/mid-autumn-festival/