The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month – which in 2022 is September 10. The festival is celebrated by cultures throughout East Asia, and by Chinese immigrants and their descendants in Southeast Asian countries. We take a look at how it is celebrated in five countries. Thailand The Moon Praying Festival has a traditional tale far different from the one told in Hong Kong of Chang’e and her ascent to the moon. What is Mid-Autumn Festival all about? Chinese legends and how it is celebrated Legend has it that, on the night of the festival, the Eight Immortals – legendary figures in traditional Chinese culture – fly to the Moon Palace to give peaches and their birthday greetings to Guanyin, the Chinese deity of mercy and compassion. As such, families pray to the moon and gift each other peach-shaped cakes during the festival. Many Mid-Autumn traditions remain the same – mooncakes, especially durian-flavoured ones , are popular. Another commonly seen food is the grapefruit-like pomelo, as its round shape is symbolic of reunions and gatherings. Other activities include boarding a cruise to watch the moon at Siam Bay by Ko Chang island. How to make traditional mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival Vietnam The legend behind the Tet Trung Thu, or Children’s Festival, tells the story of a man named Cuoi, who had a magical life-giving banyan tree that could only be watered with clean water. One day Cuoi’s wife urinated on it, and it began to grow and grow. Cuoi tried to chop it down, but instead got stuck and floated up into the sky. Eventually, he landed on the moon. Children set up lanterns on the night of Tet Trung Thu to light his way back to Earth. Vietnamese say that, if you look closely enough, you can see his shadow on the moon sitting underneath a tree. For the Vietnamese, Tet Trung Thu is a time to spend with loved ones after a season of hard work, and families welcome the festival by placing trays of fruit and cakes on their ancestral altars and eating mooncakes. The most common types of mooncake are the soft, sticky, mochi-like banh deos and baked banh nuong cakes. On the night of the full moon, a male dancer wearing a round happy-faced mask parades the streets, bringing people joy with his comical gestures. The mask is supposed to embody Ong Dia , the God of the Earth who symbolises prosperity and who serves as a reminder to the people to be thankful for the land’s harvests. The Philippines Nearly one million ethnic Chinese live in the Philippines, where the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with two days of displays of banners and lanterns, especially in Chinatown in the capital, Manila. Chinese Filipinos like to play Pua Tiong Chiu, a popular dice game that is said to have originated from China’s Fujian province – where most of the country’s Chinese immigrants first came. The game consists of rolling six dice into a large bowl; the winner, based on number combinations, gets mooncake as a prize. To win the largest piece of mooncake, you need to roll at least four “fours” or five of the same number. Japan Japan’s Mid-Autumn Festival – known as Tsukimi, Otsukimi or Jugoya – is also a moon festival. Residents decorate the streets with pampas grass ( susuki ) to protect against evil spirits. Certain food offerings also double as decorations. Taro plants that have sprouted shoots, for instance, are symbolic of a prosperous family. According to Japanese legend, there is a rabbit that lives on the moon and pounds mochi rice cakes with a mallet and mortar. Some say this fable is based on a Buddhist tale, others say it has to do with wordplay because the Japanese term mochizuki means “full moon” but also sounds like “mochi pounding”. The Japanese eat rabbit-shaped Tsukimi dango , a mochi-like sweet rice dumpling, for good health and happiness. Pyramid stacks of 15 dangos are displayed to illustrate the 15th day of the month, or 12 to represent the number of months in a year. The white colour and roundness of this dessert are meant to mimic the beauty of the moon – it is a common theme found with other celebratory foods such as Tsukimi soba or udon, which is served with egg yolk. People also feast on the season’s fresh produce, such as sweet potatoes, chestnuts, beans, taro, edamame and sake. When the moon is not visible, the festival is called Mugetsu (no moon) or Ugetsu (rain moon), but celebrations still go on – such as tea ceremonies, poetry readings and drumming performances. South Korea Chuseok, or Hangawi, is South Korea’s Mid-Autumn Festival and Thanksgiving Day . It is a three-day holiday in which people thank the heavens for the year’s successful harvest and ask for more to come. Some traditions bear similarities with Chinese ones, as Koreans travel and take gifts to their parents’ homes to wish them a long and healthy life. Each morning of the festival, the family conducts the charye , a tea ritual to pay respect to their ancestors. First, the oldest son helps set the table. Then everyone bows multiple times in an order based on gender and age – it is done for good luck in the coming year. Koreans eat songpyeon , a kind of Korean rice cake filled with sweetened sesame seeds, beans or chestnuts and folded into a crescent moon shape, during the festival. They also eat jeon , which are pancakes stuffed with kimchi, zucchini, mushrooms and meat. Traditional folk dances, wrestling matches and visits to grave sites are also held during the three-day festival.