Sasha's Flower Garden

As the Oktoberfest festival is now underway in Munich, Germany – there is another popular festival about to take place in China. It’s an annual event called the Mid-Autumn, Harvest Moon or Moon cake Festival. During the fall, the skies in China are often clear and the nights are crisp and sharp as the harsh summer heat dissipates. These ideal night sky conditions allow the moon to appear its brightest. The Harvest Moon is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The Mid Autumn mooncake Festival therefore celebrates the moon’s appearance as the brightest and most beautiful throughout the year. It’s long been an ancient tradition for t... read more

August the 15th according to the lunar calendar is the traditional Mid Autumn Festival in China(In 2010, the Mid Autumn mooncake Festival falls on Wednesday, September 3rd). The festival is the second most important festival to the Spring Festival to Chinese people. Every year, when the festival comes people go home from every corner of the world to meet their family and have dinner with them. China’s Mid-Autumn Festival is traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunisolar month. The festival is the second most important festival after the Spring Festival to Chinese people. Every year, when the festival comes people go home from every corner of the country and the world to meet their family and have dinner with them. Why is the Mid-Autumn Festival so important? It is related to the moon and Chinese people... read more

Roughly the size of a human palm, mooncakes are quite filling. Mooncakes are meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and shared with family and friends. One mooncake can be shared by eight people. Normally one person will take more than a piece of mooncake… trying a few flavours too. Mooncakes has a thin tender skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling. The mooncake may contain one or two whole salted egg yolks in its center to symbolize the full moon. Traditional mooncakes have the word “longevity” or “harmony” (in Chinese characters) printed on it. Traditional mooncakes flavours are lotus seed paste, red bean paste and five kernels (5 varieties of nuts and seeds mixed in maltose syrup). Nowadays mooncakes flavours are plentiful ranging from green tea, tiramisu, chocolate, durian, peanut, cream cheese to chicken floss just a to name a few. There is even mooncake ice cream from Häagen-Dazs and Baskin Robbins. Mooncakes are eaten throughout the month befor... read more