The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in China is a fascinating cultural experience. Strolling along the waterfront in Xiamen, a small coastal city in southern China, it's exciting to witness celebrants lighting sky lanterns and watching them float up into the dark sky like red and orange stars. These Mid-Autumn festival paper lanterns are roughly balloon shaped, with a bundle of rags tied underneath them. When the rags are set aflame, the balloons begin to fill up with hot air until they float up into the night sky. While these sky lanterns can’t be very safe (we once witnessed a burning pile of rags dropping down from the sky and just missing a couple of girls on a motor scooter), they are certainly a fun and beautiful way to celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival—a harvest festival celebrated in many Asian countries.

In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, takes place on the eve of the first full moon during the 8th month on the lunar calendar. The Festival traditionally celebrates the harvest, and a major part of the festivities centre on admiration of the moon, which at this time of year is usually round and yellow, like a giant egg yolk. Eating foods that resemble the moon is popular during this time, and many families eat pomelos (a large, sweet Asian grapefruit), persimmons (fruit of the tomato family), and of course round mooncakes. Mooncakes are enormously popular at this time of year with their cookie crust filled with sweet lotus paste and a round salted duck’s egg yolk. Families often cut the mooncake into wedges, and share its rich sweet flavour as they admire the moon.

A curious folktale surrounds the tradition of eating mooncakes. Apparently, many years ago, Ming dynasty revolutionaries who were fighting against the Mongolian Yuan dynasty conquerors, smuggled messages to each other baked inside the mooncakes. This worked because the enemy, who did not have the custom of eating mooncakes, did not intercept the messages.

In addition to lighting sky lanterns, many people will light colourful paper lanterns and carry them on the end of a stick. In China, skilled artisans make huge lanterns in the shape of animals and buildings, lighting them from the inside with electric lights, resulting in fantastic and elaborate displays of awesome colour.

Other traditional celebrations of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival include dragon dances, where acrobatic dancers will don dragon costumes in a ceremonial dance. In some parts of China and other Asian countries, residents will put on traditional Chinese clothing to celebrate the Festival. Oftentimes, performances are held that depict the story of the legendary Chang’e (the Moon Goddess), and her image is commonly featured on boxes of mooncakes. According to ancient legend, Chang’e was the beautiful wife of a famous hunter. When she discovered a hidden immortality pill among her husband’s belongings, she accidentally swallowed it and floated up into the sky; thus becoming an immortal living on the moon with her companion, the Jade Rabbit.

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on the first full moon night of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. This usually translates to a date in late September or early October. In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday often coincides with the National Holiday, and many people take a week off work.

The Chinese Moon Festival is a large celebration in many countries that have large Chinese populations. In addition to China, you can participate in the celebrations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and areas with large overseas Chinese populations. In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is known as Tet Trung Thu, and has its own legends and customs different from the Chinese festival.

If you can't make it to Asia for the annual Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival celebration, chances are that a celebration is being held in a city close to you. Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco are just a few cities with significant Chinese populations; and every year, lantern displays and other festivities are common.

There is nothing quite like being immersed in the local culture, and if you get a chance to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with a local family in China or another Asian country, you will have a unique cultural experience to remember for years to come.