Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated across Yunnan

Falling on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the grandest annual events for Chinese people and is an occasion for them to have family reunion. This year, the festival was celebrated on September 24. And in southwest China’s Yunnan province, people held various celebrations.

In ancient times, Chinese people observed that the movement of the moon had a close relationship with changes of the seasons and agricultural production. Therefore, to express their thanks to the moon and celebrate the harvest, people offered sacrifices to the moon on autumn days. These customs have been passed down in their celebration of Mid-Autumn Festival.

On the festival day, family members gather, admire the bright full moon, eat moon cakes, and express best wishes to each other. In Yunnan, besides these traditional celebrations, other activities were also held this year, including music concert, poem reciting, DIY moon cakes, hiking and traditional cultural experiencing.

Photos by Yang Zheng, Li Qiuming, Zhang Tong

Editor: John Li