Moon Cake Festival

This mid-autumn festival is celebrated by both the Han people and many minority nationalities in North China. Moon worship can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang dynasties (2000—1066bce). In subsequent years, Chinese people started the custom of baking ‘moon cakes’ stuffed with lotus seed paste as gifts for their relatives. As night falls, people come outside to gaze at the full moon, or walk by the lakes to celebrate the festival by watching the moon and its reflection.