Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) 2022

Mid-Autumn Festival also called the Mooncake Festival or the Moon Festival. It is an essential traditional festival in China. People celebrate the festival by gathering with families, eating traditional foods, lighting lanterns, and appreciating the moon.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2022 falls on the 10th of September, Saturday. Combined with a weekend, Chinese people will have a 3-day holiday from September 10 to 12.

How to Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival?

1. Reuniting with Family

Firstly, Mid-Autumn Festival is a big day for family’s reunion. People will go back home and get together with their families. This tradition is much like Thanksgiving in the United States. People will share a fantastic meal together to enjoy this family reunion time.

2. Admiring the Full Moon

The full moon is the symbol of a family reunion, reminding people of their hometowns and loved ones. After the family reunion dinner, people will go outdoors to admire the full moon on the night.

3. Eating Moon Cakes

The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Mooncake Festival. The cakes, typically round, symbolizing the full moon, are presented as gifts to relatives and friends. The moon cake is a must-eat food!

4. Lighting and Hanging up Lanterns

Hanging up lanterns is called 竖中秋 (shù zhōng qiū) in Chinese. Chinese people believe the higher the lanterns are hung, the luckier the family will be.

The lantern carnivals, and exhibitions will be hung in parks and other public places, during which lanterns of various colors, patterns, and styles are on display. The entire area is decorated with beautiful lighting.

5. Guessing Lantern Riddles

Besides hanging up lanterns outsides, Chinese people usually write some interesting riddles on the lanterns and have other people try to guess the answers. Nowadays, some Chinatown or Southeast Asian countries would hold lantern riddle contests on Mid-Autumn night.

6. Worshiping the Moon

Chinese people believed the moon governed all vital changes, especially the harvest of grain. Therefore, people will put a table outside under the moon on the night. Then burn incense, put moon cakes and fruits as sacrifices on the table, face the moon, and pray for fortune.