A Quick Glance
Name: Harvest Moon Festival, Mid Autumn Festival
Date: the 15th of the eight month in Chinese lunar calendar
Legend: Chang Er flew to the moon
Food: moon cake
More information:
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa093097.htm
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/moon.htm
The legend of Chang Er
According to the legend, Chang Er was a wife of Houyi (Yi) - the hero who could shoot the sun in Chinese mythology. There were once ten suns in the sky, which caused plants to wither and fierce beasts to run wild terrorizing people. To save the people, Yi started to shoot the suns. He shot down nine of them one by one; thus the severe drought was gone.
Chang Er had taken an elixir from Yi and became a fairy. She flew to the moon to escape from the pursuit of her husband. It was thought that we can see Chang Er on the moon when it is at its brightest in mid-autumn.
Moon cakes are made with sweet fillings - nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates - and wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of this rich tasting dessert.