There are several legends about the origin of this mid-autumn festival. One is the story of Chang Er who was believed to have taken a pill, become a fairy and flown to the moon to escape the pursuit of her husband. It was thought that Chang Er could be seen on the moon when it is at its brightest. 

This Chinese equivalent to the West's Harvest Moon Festival is one of the loveliest nights of the year. Part of the celebrations commemorate a 14th-Century uprising against the Mongols when rebels wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and embedded them in cakes which they smuggled to compatriots. Today, during the festival, people eat special sweet cakes known as "Moon Cakes" made of ground lotus-seed pasted, sesame, mashed red beans and sweet fillings of nuts. Along with the cakes, shops sell special round boxes to hold them and colored Chinese paper lanterns in the shapes of animals — and more recently, in the shapes of airplanes and space ships. 

On this family occasion parents allow children to stay up late, and take them to high vantage points to light their lanterns and watch the huge autumn moon rise before eating their moon cakes. Public parks are ablaze with many thousands of lanterns in all colors and sizes and shapes. 

Don’t miss the opportunity to see our collection of cinnabar and lacquer moon cake boxes from the 1950's, along with our selection of traditional and fancy lanterns – including antique reverse painting palace lanterns and paper lanterns.