The Mid-Autumn Festival (Mandarin: 中秋节, pronounce: Zhōngqiū Jié) is a traditional Chinese Festival started from Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and popular around Asian cultures today. There are several understanding and legends about Mid-Autumn Festival, one of those were ancient Chinese people celebrate the autumn harvesting during the eighth month of the lunar calendar (around late September or early October), get around with family members, enjoy the full moon and eat mooncake. The celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival is about gathering, thanksgiving, and praying (for good luck). Nowadays, people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival by lighting lanterns, guessing riddles written on the lanterns, eat mooncakes, and, most importantly, enjoy the family gathering time.
Homemade mooncakes by Qijin Wang, second-year MPH student in the Food Systems for Health concentration.
Qijin recently made mooncakes to share with the MPH faculty, staff, and her MPH peers.