Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival

By Maggie Gilbride 王老师, Upper School Chinese Teacher

September 17 was 中秋节 Zhōngqiūjié, the Mid-Autumn Festival. This traditional Chinese harvest festival, sometimes called the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is celebrated when the fall moon is full on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Families gather together, admire the moon, drink tea, and eat mooncakes. Mooncakes are round cakes that have a sweet or savory filling and are usually cut into pieces to enjoy with loved ones.

This year the OES Upper School Chinese students celebrated 中秋节 by researching the festival’s legends, mooncakes, the practice of admiring the moon, and the importance of 团圆 tuányuán reunion. They taught each other what they learned, and then headed down to the EC3 Design Center to sketch and paint the most interesting or important aspect of 中秋节 for them. Students hung their paintings, including a brief description in Chinese, and admired each other’s creations while enjoying some 冰皮月饼 bīngpí yuèbǐng Snowskin Mooncakes.

祝大家中期姐愉快！zhù dàjiā Zhōngqiūjié yúkuài Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!