Appreciation and Worship of the moon

As a time of family reunion, the Moon Festival is also known as the Reunion Festival. People usually celebrate the festival at night. The most important activity is to appreciate the bright full moon. It is highly recommended that you find the best place with a great view of the moon, such as a roof, a balcony, a mountaintop or a lakeside.

A woman wearing hanfu, Chinese traditional clothes in the style of the Tang Dynasty, worships the moon. [Photo provided to China Daily]

People in some old towns will hold a ceremony to worship the moon in a square, park, or street. But nowadays this tradition has a lot to do with the tourist business. Fruit to honor the moon includes watermelon, grapefruit, pomegranate, pear, persimmon, grapes, or other seasonal produce.

Lanterns

A notable part of the holiday celebration involves carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers or launching floating sky lanterns called Kongming, which can float because the burning candles heat the air in the lantern.

People participate in the lantern game. [Photo provided to China Daily]

People write good wishes on the lanterns and let them fly up into the sky. Another tradition involving lanterns is to write riddles on them and have other people try to guess the answers.