Happy Chinese Moon Festival. Today is October 3, 2009, according to the lunar calendar, it is a Chinese moon holiday.Pronounce Zhongqiu Jie (traditional Chinese: 中秋節)
The Chinese Moon Festival is one of the biggest annual holidays in China and other parts of Asia such as Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore, as well as in areas in the United States with a significant Asian population. For the Chinese, it is one of the two most important holidays of the year, Chinese New Year being the other. (Also called the Mooncake Festival or Lantern Festival.)
Chinese Moon Festival, or the Mooncake Festival, is a celebration of the Autumn harvest. As Chinese speaking Real Estate agent myself, I made contact with all my Asian decent past buyer and sellers to wish them a Happy Moon Festival holiday. 
It occurs when the moon is the brightest. and the highest in the sky. This celebration is one of the oldest holidays in the world, dating back thousands of years. Early celebrations included worship of the moon as a god. There are multiple versions of the story of Chang'e, Ch'ang-O or Chang-Ngo (Chinese: 嫦娥; pinyin: Cháng'é), the Chinese goddess of the moon. Regardless of the versions of the story, during this holiday, traditional Chinese worship her by putting new pastries on the altar for Her to bless. She endows her worshippers with beauty.
Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting and moon gazing. Not to mention mooncakes. While baked goods are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with the Moon festival. One type of traditional mooncake is filled with lotus seed paste. Roughly the size of a hand palm, these mooncakes are quite filling, meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and passed around.
As for myself, I will be having some great dinner with family and enjoy some quiet time off in my new apartment. Of course, the desert will be the delicious moon cake.
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Eileen Hsu 許雅嵐 (email: EHSU(@)elliman.com)
We specialize in Manhattan New York Condominiums, townhouses, condops and cooperatives. We are condominium residents ourselves so we understand the Manhattan New York condominium community. We also enjoy all Manhattan neighborhoods, especially Upper West Side, Lincoln Square, Midtown East, Murray Hill, Financial District, Chelsea, Fifth Avenue, Greenwich Village, Nolita and etc just to name a few. If you or you know someone that may be interested in selling, buying or leasing their Manhattan New York condo, call us today (917)837-8869 or (646)644-6929 and we can discuss your specific Real Estate needs in private. Thank you.
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The moon cakes look super...must be near lunch time! Good post and thorough too!
Eileen, I hadn't heard about the mooncakes or this celebration but it sounds wonderful! I'm sure Chinatown is busy today (but then it always is :)
Well then Zhongqiu Jie to you Eileen !!!!
... hope you had a great day :o)
Cheers !
Sheldon
Hi, Eileen, Happy Mooncake Festival to you! Don't forget to brew some hot tea to go with those moon cake. I bought a different type of moon cake this year, it is more like pastry moon cake, they are so good, small and delicious. I love moon cake, but I have to have some hot tea to go with it. Enjoy!
I love the pinapple moon cakes. Thank you for sharing.
Eileen, Did you know that the moon cake was used to hide military messages and be delivered in secrecy? That is one of the origins of the Moon cake