The festivals and traditions of Hong Kong (and China) are only just beginning to actually come into some context for us. Their holidays are many in comparison to the U.S. calendar, but their work weeks are very long. We are about to celebrate the Mid-autumn Moon Festival.
To date, all that we have known about this festival is that it involves cakes. Perhaps it has been the rush of time or our glazed focuses upon hearing the word "cake", but we haven't had a chance to dig much deeper than a consumer's understanding. According to a Hong Kong tourism website, "the festival commemorates a 14th Century uprising against the Mongols. In a cunning plan, the rebels wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and embedded them in cakes that they smuggled to compatriots." Ah, the mooncakes. It is making more sense.
In any case, it's a festival and a time to celebrate. We are excited to try the cakes with ground lotus and sesame seed paste, egg-yolk and other ingredients, and hope to also enjoy some of the lanterns and festival offerings. Tonight in Macau (and each saturday night this month) they are hosting a fireworks competition to coincide with the festival. We hope to go, but we'll see.
For a schedule of large HK festivals:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/index.jhtml#fest
For more information on the Mid-Autumn Festival:
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_mida.jhtml
