Thais of Chinese descent take part in the
Chinese Moon Festival.
Patcharapol Panrak
Chinese-Thai residents of Sattahip brought out the
cake and romance to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival.
Mayor Narong Bunbancherdsri presided over the Sept.
12 festival sponsored by the Sattahip Sawang Rojanathammasathan
Foundation at its headquarters.
The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the
Mid-Autumn festival, is normally held on the 15th of the eight lunar
month and is one of the most important traditional events on the Chinese
calendar.
It is a festival full of legendary stories, such as
one in which Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since
and supposedly been seen dancing there during the festival. It’s also an
occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get
together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems.
It’s also a time for romance, when couples sit
together under the moon or, if separated, look simultaneously at the
full moon to bridge the distance between them.
The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The
Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky.
