Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋节) in Chinese, is also called the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival. It is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year. It is also celebrated by many other Asian countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In China, Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration of the rice harvest and many fruits. Ceremonies are held both to give thanks for the harvest and to encourage the harvest-giving light to return again in the coming year.

It is also a reunion time for families, a little like Thanksgiving. Chinese people celebrate it by gathering for dinners, worshiping the moon, lighting paper lanterns, eating mooncakes, etc.

How People Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival

As the second most important festival in China, Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie) is celebrated in many traditional ways. Here are some of the most popular traditional celebrations.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a time of good will. Many Chinese people send Mid-Autumn Festival cards or short messages during the festival to express their best wishes to family and friends.

The most popular greeting is “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival”, in Chinese 中秋节快乐 — ‘Zhongqiu Jie kuaile!’.