Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! |
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 Sep 13 2008, 11:54 PM
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#1
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 say maydayism.  Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,447 Joined: Jun 2004 Member No: 26,344  |
(Please let me know if there's another existing topic... because I don't see any yet.)
This is my first year spending Mid-Autumn Festival away from my family. And the weather in Sydney has been terrible today: a thunderstorm. Btw, for those who have no idea what Mid-Autumn Festival is, Wikipedia always comes in handy: QUOTE The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular East Asian tradition of Chinese origin[dubious – discuss], dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty [1][2][dubious – discuss], that spread to neighbouring cultures like Japan [3]. It was first called Mid-Autumn festival in the Zhou Dynasty [4]. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. The Chinese Lantern Festival is held on the 15 day of the first lunar month. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually around mid- or late-September in the Gregorian calendar), a date that parallels the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes of the solar calendar. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as: * Eating moon cakes outside under the moon * Putting pomelo rinds on one's head * Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns * Burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e(simplified Chinese: 嫦娥; traditional Chinese: 嫦娥; pinyin: cháng'é) * Planting Mid-Autumn trees * Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members * Fire Dragon Dances So for all those who celebrate, what have you done/will be doing today/tonight? |
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Sep 14 2008, 12:49 AM
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#2
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 Group: Member Posts: 246 Joined: Dec 2004 Member No: 68,892 |
I'm sorry to hear there's a thunderstorm; hopefully the weather will soon take a turn for the better.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, indeed! I'll be devouring mooncakes with some friends and family. |
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Sep 14 2008, 01:08 AM
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#3
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 yan lin♥ Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 14,129 Joined: Apr 2004 Member No: 13,627 |
YAY MOONCAKES. although i won't be having any today.
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Sep 14 2008, 01:39 AM
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#4
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say maydayism. Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,447 Joined: Jun 2004 Member No: 26,344 |
YAY it's sunny now.
 I *think* I'll be able to see the moon tonight. |
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Sep 14 2008, 03:23 AM
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#5
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 isketchaholic Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 2,977 Joined: Apr 2007 Member No: 516,154 |
YAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAY
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Sep 14 2008, 03:25 AM
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 in a matter of time Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,151 Joined: Aug 2005 Member No: 191,357 |
I'll have more fun with lanterns and burning large amounts of wax than eating mooncakes.
Although the wax-burning is illegal here. But who the hell cares. |
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Sep 14 2008, 03:41 AM
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#7
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isketchaholic Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 2,977 Joined: Apr 2007 Member No: 516,154 |
wax burning?
LOL LANTERN GAMES |
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Sep 14 2008, 03:49 AM
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#8
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in a matter of time Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,151 Joined: Aug 2005 Member No: 191,357 |
Oh, I'm not really sure if that's what you call it in English. That's more of a literal translation from Cantonese.
You just burn huge amounts of wax in the tin mooncake boxes. A little love to the pyromaniac in all of us. |
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Sep 14 2008, 03:53 AM
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#9
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isketchaholic Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 2,977 Joined: Apr 2007 Member No: 516,154 |
hm interesting I've never heard of that before, think I shall go ask my parents about it.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR DINNER TONIGHT. so much good fooooooood <3 |
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Sep 14 2008, 03:58 AM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 1,450 Joined: Feb 2005 Member No: 98,407 |
mooncakes aren't that great imo
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Sep 14 2008, 04:01 AM
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#11
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in a matter of time Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,151 Joined: Aug 2005 Member No: 191,357 |
^ Agreed.
DINNER WILL BE AWESOME! btw burning wax is pretty dangerous, mostly illegal. You could burn your eyebrows off XD |
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Sep 14 2008, 04:07 AM
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#12
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say maydayism. Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 7,447 Joined: Jun 2004 Member No: 26,344 |
wax burning is banned in hk because of all those accidents that come with it and the cleaners having to scrap up the remainings after the night. i've been a good kid and haven't burned wax before, but now i'm too old for it.
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Sep 14 2008, 12:06 PM
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#13
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 Pocketful of Sunshine Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 8,690 Joined: Nov 2005 Member No: 289,004 |
Hi Winnie!
 Lol, I spent 3 hours doing a paper on the Mid-Autumn Festival for Mandarin class. Baah. Anyways, I really don't know what we're doing tonight, haha. Usually it's dinner and then I get left out of the rest of the things because I fall asleep.  I like mooncakes, but in small amounts. I hate the ones with the eggs though. Eww. |
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Sep 14 2008, 12:46 PM
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#14
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 ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 14,309 Joined: Nov 2004 Member No: 65,593 |
Chinese ain't the only one celebrating it. Vietnamese are too.
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