Mid Autumn Festival 2019 (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia)

Today’s Doodle represents the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most important annual holidays in East Asia. The event, also known as the Moon Festival, takes place every year on the first full moon after the fall equinox, traditionally the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Originally celebrated in China for thousands of years, the festival spread from the royal classes to the common folk and eventually all across the region⁠—including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia with each local culture adding its own customs. 

No Moon Festival is complete without mooncakes, traditionally baked or steamed at home but now sold everywhere in a wide range of flavors from savory to sweet. In China, this is a time for joyful family reunions and making offerings to the moon. After a traditional meal of duck and taro (preferably served at the grandparents' home), Chinese families offer mooncakes and special fruits to the moon before sharing mooncakes together.

In Hong Kong, lantern carnivals take place all over the country, the biggest of all in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island. Besides admiring the elaborate lanterns, visitors can try answering lantern riddle quizzes or visiting the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance near Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay. 

In Taiwan, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for telling stories about the moon, including the legend of Chang’e the Moon Goddess of Immortality and the Jade Rabbit. Some families organize moon-gazing trips or barbecue by moonlight. Children use the rind of the pomelo, a large citrus fruit, to make hats for good luck. 

Malaysia celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival with a lantern parade. In Penang, the parade is known as a “River of Lights,” while the streets of Kuala Lumpur are filled with dragon and lion dances, as well as colorful floats depicting Chang’e and other Moon Festival characters.

中秋快乐! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!