nPostednon September 19, 2013
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nA.K.A.nMooncake Day
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nThenMid-Autumn Festival, which is celebrated in China, Taiwan, Vietnam,nthe Philippines, and Hong Kong, is all about gathering and givingnthanks. The gathering includes harvesting (gathering together) cropsnas well as families gathering together to celebrate. The thanks isnfor the bountiful harvest and for peaceful get-togethers. n
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nThisnfestival is also about the moon. People make or buy, share, and eatnmooncakes. These round pastries are usually filled with red beannpaste or lotus seed paste. In the middle of the paste filling is the crumbled egg yolk of a saltednduck egg.
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| Mooncake boxes |
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nThenround shape of these mooncakes symbolizes completeness and unity.nAlthough they are generally pretty small (a few inches across),nfamilies share them by cutting them into small wedges. In Hong Kong,nmost people buy mooncakes in fancy presentation boxes for theirnrelatives. n
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nThenMid-Autumn Festival is also a Lantern Festival, and lanterns arendisplayed everywhere. In Hong Kong there are lantern processions,ndragon and lion dances, and even towers of bamboo and stone lit up inna kind of tall bonfire! n
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| Can you spot the young woman with the umbrella strolling past this lantern display in Hong Kong? |
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nModernnlife, meet holiday traditions!
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nSomenpeople in Hong Kong are urging more modest packaging for commerciallynmade mooncakes in order to spare the environment from waste.
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nAnotherntrend is people wanting to have less oily and sugary mooncakes. Onenhealthier version is the “snow skin mooncake.” This treat isnsimilar to mochi ice cream; it has a glutinous rice crust. It must benkept frozen until serving time, and it’s served cold. Snow skinnmooncakes are filled with fruit jam, chocolate, coffee, cheese, ornother delicious things. n
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nInnHong Kong, one tradition is huge structures made of lanterns. Thisnyear a sculpture has been created using 7,000 recycled plastic waternbottles with LED lights. It’s more than 65 feet in diameter and 33nfeet high! The sculpture is called rising moon—see why:
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| This is what the sculpture looks like from the inside… |
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nAlsonon this date:
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St. Kitts and Nevis Independence Day
St. Kitts and Nevis Independence Day
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nTalknLike a Pirate Day
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nChocolatiernGeorge Cadbury’s birthday
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nPlannAhead!
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Septembernholidays, Septembernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in September.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Octobernholidays, Octobernbirthdays,nand historicalnanniversaries in October.
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