The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four traditional festivals in China.

On the day of the festival, which falls on Sept 21 this year, Chinese people admire the full moon, make wishes and offer incense to the moon, eat mooncakes, and light paper lanterns.

Eat mooncakes

Mooncakes are a must-have on every table during the festival. Mooncakes made in Zhongshan are mostly featured with a thin,delicate layered crust enveloping a flavorful, soft filling that is not too salty or sweet. The fragrant aroma makes people’s mouths water.

In addition to using common fillings such aslotus seed paste, red bean paste, and five kernels of corn or mixed nuts,Zhongshan-style mooncakes are unique types filled with duck livers, crisp grasscarp, and Tuwei flowers. One special offering has piglet shapes called"jue zai bang" in Cantonese.

Eat river snails

Zhongshan people also like to eat river snailswhile chatting with their family and enjoying the beauty of the full roundmoon. Summer and autumn are the best seasons to eat river snails before they get ready to lay their eggs.

River snails are cold and sweet, can cool you down,promote fluid production, quench thirst, and help cure hangovers. People are happy to see their plates remain full of empty snail shells after finishing ameal, which is why they consider this dish to have a good meaning of “endlessness”.

Eat taro

The custom of eating taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival also has a long history in Zhongshan.

Big and small taros are served on the same plate and placed on the center of the altar table as one of the sacred offerings. Big taros are put in the middle surrounded by the small one ssymbolizing a family reunion.

Eat water caltrops and peanuts

Most of the water caltrop nuts resemble the headof a bull with two downward curving horns, but there are also small varieties featuring three or four horns. The nuts taste sweet with multiple health benefits such as cooling the body temperature, quenching thirst and helping cure hangovers. Zhongshan people are also known to eat delicious and nutritious peanuts on the night of the festival.

Make lanterns

The tradition of making paper lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival is mostly found in South China.

Children are taught by their parents to make various lanterns of different shapes, which are hung up high on a long pole, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Guess lantern riddles

To celebrate the holiday, families and friends gather to revel in festivities. At night, people gather to guess the meaning of the riddles on the lanterns that are hung in public places. It is a popular activity among young people and has gradually become a way of expressing love through lantern riddles during the festival.