Moon cakes made by local Chinese on Sept. 7, 2019 to celebrate the upcoming Chinese traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, or Sept. 13 this year, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
More than just mooncakes: Find out what Mid-Autumn Festival is and how it's celebrated.
BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is when families gather to celebrate a bountiful autumn harvest, light lanterns, eat mooncakes, and admire what's believed to be the fullest moon of the year. The day falls on Sept. 13 this year.
The festival is celebrated by people in China and some other Asian countries. It dates back more than 3,000 years to moon worshipping in China's Shang Dynasty.
Despite shared origin, it has developed different customs in different countries. Read on to see how people celebrate it in different regions.
A girl poses with a mooncake at a mall in Chinatown in Manila, the Philippines, Sept. 11, 2019. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Students display handicraft works they made featuring Mid-Autumn Festival in Shijiazhuang Qiaoxi Foreign Language Primary School in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Luo Xuefeng)
Fancy lanterns are displayed at Senado Square in south China's Macao, Sept. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)
A child poses for photos beside a rabbit-shaped lantern during a lantern fair celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, south China, Sept. 11, 2019. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai)
Invited guests take part in a feast of Chinese beverages and Chinese hot pot in front of the Chinese Pavillion in the Frederiksberg Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 7, 2019. (Photo by David A. Williams/Xinhua)
Customers walk in a mall decorated with lanterns which are used to celebrate the upcoming Chinese traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia, Step. 2, 2019. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)■
