[KarenInCa]

Also known as the Autumn Moon Festival.
This year it falls on September 14th. Chinese Festivals - mid-autumn festival
We live in a fairly large Chinese community, within our county. However, it's extremely difficult to find Chinese cultural things happening around here, on the internet. Oddly, the only real event we've attended has been at the local State University, for Chinese New Year, because we couldn't find anything else.

I was very pleased last week, the parents of a Chinese American friend of our daughter's at preschool, dropped off a flier for a huge gathering on Sunday September 14th, to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival at...you guessed it....Chinatown Mall, a community outside of the mainstream in our area. LOL I knew there had to be something like that around here, but I've never known.

There are going to be stage performances with Lion Dance, Chinese music and dance, demonstrations on calligraphy, origami, making Chinese lanterns, Chinese chess, Tai Chi.....and so many things that I can't even list them all.

Who else is planning something to do to celebrate?
If you're unfamilar with things happening in your area, you can check your local FCC chapter for events, check with your adoption agency (if they're fairly local), call or Google your nearest town hall, and inquire about events. Find a grocery store that caters to Chinese Americans, and you might find fliers of events there, Or, if you have any acquaintances who are Chinese American in your area, ask them if they know of anything that is going to be happening.

[jessibird]

Even though we do not have our little one yet...we have some wonderful friends who have a beautiful daughter from Wuhan (a. 2005). They have invited us to our local chinese restraunt for dinner on Sunday and then we are all coming here to have moon cakes and to watch some of their video of their trip to China. We are soooo excited as this is our first holiday we are celebrating to begin adding our new culture to our family. Our kids are very excited too!

[Lissa]

Since Lydia is going to stay with our friends tomorrow for Russ' surgery we are celebrating the Autumn Moon tonight. We made our Mooncookies with red bean paste for later and are having our traditional meal. We've not decorated since we want to keep it low key this year, but we do plan to eat under the moon and make our wishes to Chang e'.

[Trace7]

We are doing this tonight since we were out of town all weekend - but we will use Moon Pies instead.

[sakelley]

We spent the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in China (we have been here since Sept 5 adopting our second daughter). It was wonderful getting to spend the holiday in our daughters' birth country.

[Trace7]

Originally Posted by sakelley

We spent the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in China (we have been here since Sept 5 adopting our second daughter). It was wonderful getting to spend the holiday in our daughters' birth country.

That is awesome! I missed it by a week when I went to Hong Kong in 2006 to visit my brother, but my parents were there and enjoyed the festivals.

CONGRATULATIONS on your second daughter!

[specialk4b]

We ate moon pies in the backyard under the moon. We talked to Micah about his friends and family all around the world who look at the same moon at night. He was much more interested in the moon pie!

[KarenInCa]

We had a great time! I was so surprised to find "China Town Mall" nestled between very large buildings, in the larger city around my area. We saw several demonstrations, and Cady got a fan, that she has now almost mastered at snapping it to unfold. (One of the best $2 we've ever spent.
Afterwords, we went to lunch with our friends that invited us.
That night we went outside and shared a mooncake, and made wishes for Cady's baby sister-still in China, or perhaps not even born yet. The mooncake was authentic and it seems to be an acquired taste. Very sweet. Kind of like a shortening bread cookie outside, a sweet lutus paste inside, and the center had a sweetened (seemingly hard boiled) egg yolk.
Scott and I are too old to start acquiring the taste for it, but we kept saying it was yummy (for Cady's sake..LOL), but the tin container was beautiful.
I think Scott and I would have been better off with moon pies. But we'll do it again next year.