Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with Mooncakes and Lanterns

The Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival is a huge celebration in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and other Asian countries. It occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month in the lunisolar calendar—when the moon is thought to be at its fullest. This is one of the holidays I miss most about living in Hong Kong.

For nearly 3000 years, families have been gathering together during this time to pay homage to the moon, a symbol of peace and prosperity.

I’ll tell you about Mid-Autumn customs, including all things mooncake, and list the one San Diego Moon Festival event that I know of.

Lanterns Play a Key Role in Mid-Autumn Festival

Ornate, colorful lanterns are hung in storefronts and homes with huge displays gracing public spaces. Lanterns play off the need for light because Mid-Autumn Festival events occur in the evening in order to fully admire the moon.

Conveniently, because celebrations run late into the night, the day after Mid-Autumn Festival is a public holiday in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.

If you are ever in Hong Kong, you must visit the lanterns in Victoria Park and see the fire dragon dance. The dragon is 67 meters long and lit up by 70,000 incense sticks. Here, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the second-largest holiday behind Chinese New Year.

Gifting Mooncakes

Perhaps the most notable Mid-Autumn Festival tradition is the exchange of mooncakes, a seasonal delicacy now offered in various sizes and flavors. In the week or two before the festival, my husband brought these treasures home daily—gifts from appreciative clients.

Some savory mooncakes are certainly an acquired taste. However, they have evolved beyond the traditional standard salted duck egg interior. Sweet mooncake options have made them more palatable to a mainstream audience.

Hotels, restaurants, and bakeries take mooncake orders well before the festival. Deciding where and what to order is a big deal. Gifting mooncakes conveys how you feel about someone, and you want to get it right!

Traditional Mooncakes

A traditional mooncake has a salted egg yolk in the center surrounded by a paste filling. The filling and yolk are encased together by a thin pastry crust stamped with Chinese characters for longevity or harmony. The paste filling is typically lotus seed, jujube, sweet bean, or a nut blend.

As you might imagine, each region of China has a slightly different mooncake variation that is usually seen in the crust. Cantonese-style mooncakes, which we are used to, have the golden crust usually surrounding lotus paste or melon seed paste and up to four (it’s usually one) salted egg yolks that represent the four phases of the moon.

Snowy Mooncakes

Maybe because I associate cake with sweetness, but snowy mooncakes are my favorite. They have a chewy, glutinous rice crust—similar to some Japanese manju—that is also stamped with auspicious Chinese characters. The filling inside is usually sweet (chocolate, ice cream, or similar) and void of a salted egg yolk. They are smaller, unbaked, and more colorful than traditional mooncakes.

Sample Modern Mooncake Flavors

Even my then daughter dug into mooncakes that we sampled recently at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore. From left to right:

• Pandan and white lotus seed paste with melon seed (our favorite)
• Cassia flower with oolong tea and melon seed
• Macadamia nut chocolate
• Raspberry rum and chocolate paste

The two smaller mooncakes on the right are snowy mooncakes.

How to Eat a Mooncake

The most traditional way to eat a mooncake is an auspicious one. Slice it into eight pieces (eight is an auspicious number in Chinese culture) and share it with loved ones. Yes, I realize that I forgot to do this in the above photo.

Regardless of appetite, it is difficult to eat an entire mooncake. Traditional mooncakes are about the size of a fist and incredibly rich. A cup of jasmine tea helps to digest them.

Snowy mooncakes are also shareable but since they’re tinier… whether you share is up to you!

Where to Find Mooncakes

In Asia, luxury hotels, bakeries, and restaurants offer beautifully packaged mooncakes for pre-order before the festival. I’ve seen people stress out about the packaging as much as the quality of the mooncake itself. However, mooncakes are sold in larger bakeries year-round.

In the United States, your best bet is a Chinese bakery or grocery store. In San Diego, try 99 Ranch or Huy Ky Bakery in City Heights. However, Amazon sometimes sells Kee Wah mooncakes that you can have delivered via Prime!

Mooncakes or lanterns are great ideas for showing appreciation or bringing a hostess gift to someone of Chinese heritage at this time of year.

Which type of mooncake you choose depends on who you are gifting it to. A traditional mooncake may be in order for elders and friends born in China. Kids and those a generation or two removed may prefer snowy mooncakes.

San Diego Moon Festival (Mid-Autumn Festival) Events

Moon Festival at Balboa Park

The Moon Festival at Balboa Park is a free, family-friendly event held at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. This year’s performances feature Xiamen University’s Art and Performance group, Confucius Classroom student six-arts performances, Korean-American Association drums and dance performances, lion and dragon dances, and more.

Lantern and vertical mooncake photos are courtesy of Discover Hong Kong.