A different way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn harvest moon

Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its brightest, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qui jie." Since the days of old, children have been been told the story of the moon fairy who lives in a crystal palace on the moon and who comes out once a year, to dance on the moon's shadowy surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times and relates to another legend in which there was a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, the Goddess of the Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Mooncake festival.

According to yet another legend, on this day the "Man in the Moon" was seen on earth, at an inn, no less and was seen to be carrying a writing tablet. When questioned, he said he was recording the names of all the happy couples who were destined to marry and live happily ``ever after''. Accordingly, just as June is the traditional month for exchanging nuptials in the west, many Chinese weddings are held during the eighth lunar month, with the fifteenth day being the most popular.
Of course, the most famous legend surrounding the Mid-Autumn festival concerns its supposed role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 AD. It is believed that the Chinese put their plans to rebel in the mooncakes (which the Mongols did not eat) and distributed them far and wide. Families were told to not eat the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion took place.

Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting,moon-gazing activties and of course, mooncakes. While baked goods are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with the Mooncake festival and are only made during the festival season. Traditionally mooncakes are filled with lotus seed, black bean or red bean paste, and have a egg yolk at its center. However although the moonshape form remains, today's mooncake filling is made from anything from shark's fin to fruit to Chinese sausages.

More exotic creations include green tea mooncakes and snowskin mooncakes, which is a Southeast Asian variation made with cooked glutinous rice flour. Haagen-Daz has also caught on with a line of ice cream mooncakes in the Asian markets.
Roughly the size of a human palm, mooncakes are sweet and quite filling. They are cut diagonally, as with pies, so that each has a taste of the yolk. More elaborate version contain four egg yolks (representing the four phases of the moon). Unfortunately for dieters, mooncakes are high-calorie foods.
Given the difficulty in making them, most people prefer to purchase their mooncakes. You can find them at Asian bakeries at around mid-August. Meanwhile, for those with a culinary bent, here are several recipes.