(Photo : the Moon Festival)

As one of the most favorite festivals in China, the Moon Festival is coming to us with lots of joys as usual.  As other traditional festivals, the origins of the Moon Festival dates back long time ago. In Rites of Zhou, it says the ancient Chinese had diet in the Moon Festival month.  It was the official holiday early in Tang Dynasty.

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The Moon Festival has many nick names, like Mid-Autumn Days, indicating that the time of the holiday is usually around the mid-autumn. The ancient Chinese found the moon was more closed to them and looked larger, so they named it Moon Festival, or the Day of Tracing the Moon. Besides, you can easily find different versions of the stories about how the festival was established. One of them is widely accepted. In the old days, agriculture was the main business for most of the people. Once the harvest season came, like August, they were busy working in the field. When they finished all the work, they sat together, had food and drink, and enjoyed the time with their families. When the time passed, they decide to have one special day, which is the Moon Festival today, to celebrate the harvest season.

Everyone has their own Moon Festival. To me, I call it the Moon Cake Day. Obviously I like the moon cake so that I call the day by the food's name. When I was little, my family lived in a small place right next to the street. It was quiet thought because there were not many people and traffic at that time in China. Chinese economic was not as good as today, and the Moon Festival was one of the few days when I can have lots of food, and the special moon cake. The cerebration did not start till the evening. My parents brought the table and a few chairs to the outdoor. All the food was on the table, and the children began to run around, and called out their friends. The neighborhoods were coming out and started preparing their tables. I usually held a paper made lantern and walked along the street with my other little friends. Looking from far away, the lanterns looked like the stars were falling down to the earth, leaping and flashing. The adults chatted with each other, enjoy the food and laughed. The night ended along with the bright, large moon and the pleasant memories.

Life is getting better and better with the development of the society. There are more options for the food, the gift and the activities during the festival. Yet nothing could be more important than spending the precious time with your family on the special day.