1 Oct 2012 ~ Mid-Autumn Festival

Listening to: Chaka Khan ~ I Feel For You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObjLb6ElTvs

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It is the Mid Autumn Festival.

There are many tales about the origin of the holiday, but one of the most well-known tales is based on the origin of mooncakes and the establishment of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th Century. According to the traditional story, during the Yuan Dynasty, when China was ruled by Mongolia, the leaders from the preceding Sung Dynasty were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule and decided to rebel. The leaders of the rebellion ordered the making of special cakes during the Moon Festival and put a message into each mooncake with details of the attack. On the night of Moon Festival, they overthrew the government and successfully established the Ming Dynasty.

Today, mooncakes are eaten to reminiscence the story of the rebellion. Traditional mooncakes are made of ground lotus and egg yolk, but nowadays there are more and more innovative mooncake flavors and designs.  Here's an example I found via google.

In addition to savoring mooncakes and traditional foods, there are lantern carnivals and fire dragon dances.

I went to the Fire Dragon Dance last night.

 

 

On the way home I ran into 2 of my co-workers at a local pub.