The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Reunion Festival, is a traditional festival popular among many ethnic groups in China. It is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, which is today, September 6th. It is one of China's four major traditional festivals, along with the Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Dragon Boat Festival.
   The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from ancient Chinese worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the ancient practice of moon worship on autumn evening. It has since incorporated various customs, including the Emperor's Moon Festival, the Autumn Festival Society, moon-viewing, and the legend of the Moon Palace. On January 1, 2008, it was designated a national statutory holiday by the State Council.
   
                 Eat mooncakes                                             light lanterns                                         guess lantern riddles
   The Mid-Autumn Festival has been a tradition since ancient times, with customs such as worshiping the moon, appreciating and chasing the moon, begging for moonlight, making lanterns, playing with lanterns, guessing lantern riddles, setting up Mid-Autumn Festival trees, dancing with fire dragons, burning towers, listening to incense, eating moon cakes, eating snails, consuming sweet potatoes, appreciating osmanthus flowers, and drinking osmanthus wine. These customs have been passed down to this day and continue unbroken.
               
                     Wu Gang cuts down the cassia tree                                 Chang'e flies to the moon
   The Mid-Autumn Festival, having evolved over millennia, embodies the profound and extensive essence of China's traditional culture. Ancient customs and numerous myths and legends, such as Chang'e's flight to the moon, Wu Gang's cutting of the cassia tree, and Emperor Minghuang of Tang's visit to the Moon Palace, imbue the festival with rich meaning. Literati and poets have left behind countless poems and essays, ultimately embodying the spirit of "family reunion" as the central cultural theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival today.

   The Mid-Autumn Festival, with the roundness of the moon symbolizing family reunions, is a time to express longing for home and family, and to pray for a good harvest and happiness. It has become a rich and precious cultural heritage. On May 20, 2006, it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists by the State Council. Beyond China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also popular in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia, and other regions.