中秋节The Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Day is one of the most important traditional Chinese festival. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar (it is September 15^th for 2016 according to the solar calendar).  The day is also known as the Moon Festival, as at that time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest. On the festival day, family members gather to offer sacrifice to the moon, appreciate the bright full moon, eat moon cakes, and express strong yearnings toward family members and friends who live afar. In addition, there are some other customs like playing lanterns, dragon and lion dances in some regions.

中秋节是重要的中华传统节日之一。每年的农历八月十五（今年是公立9月15日）月圆之夜，分散在各地的孩子们都在这一天回家团聚、看望老人和亲友。在这样一个月圆的节日里，祭月、赏月、吃月饼是必不可少的一种中秋习俗，月饼和中秋的圆月一样，代表着团圆。年年中秋待月圆，月圆最是团圆时。

Mid-Autumn Day is one of the most important traditional Chinese festival. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar (it is September 15^th for 2016 according to the solar calendar).  The day is also known as the Moon Festival, as at that time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest. On the festival day, family members gather to offer sacrifice to the moon, appreciate the bright full moon, eat moon cakes, and express strong yearnings toward family members and friends who live afar. In addition, there are some other customs like playing lanterns, dragon and lion dances in some regions.