Enjoying the sweet scent of Osmanthus in this golden autumn, we are going to celebrate the 71st birthday of the People’s Republic of China. Luckily it also coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Altogether we share the glory of our country's birthday, with the full moon in the sky and the red flag flying.
S&L Holiday Arrangement
Oct. 1st–Oct. 8th, 8days in total
Sep. 27th (Sunday) & Oct. 10th (Saturday) will be normal working days.
The Origin of National Day
The "National Day" originally stands for national celebrations and was first appeared in the Western Jin Dynasty. In ancient society, the emperor’s ascension and birthday were called "National Day". Today it is a legal holiday established by a country to commemorate itself.
On Dec.3rd, 1949, after the fourth meeting of the Central People's Government Committee, Chinese government decided that October 1st is the "National Day" for proclaiming the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. It is the 71st birthday of the People’s Republic of China this year. Wish our great country a more prosperous future in the year 2020 and after!
Mid Autumn Festival
Unlike previous National Day, it makes this year quite special. It just falls on the same day of Mid Autumn Festival, which is our traditional Chinese festival.
Every August 15th of Chinese lunar year, is the second largest Chinese traditional festival after Spring Festival. It's usually in the middle of the autumn. The moon is the brightest and roundest on this day which means family reunion. In ancient times, it was quite popular for family and friends get together telling fairy tales about the moon.
What we always do on Mid-Autumn Festival
Worship to the Moon
It is an ancient festival with an important custom to observe and worship the moon. In ancient times emperors offered sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. Normal folks started to worship the moon on Mid-Autumn Festival as well. Today it has become one of the most important activities for family gathering together during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Night tide stays in the moon" from the poem "Watching the tide on August 15th" written by the great poet Su Shi in the Song Dynasty, proves that custom of watching the tide has a long history, which was another Mid-Autumn Festival event in Zhejiang area.
Sharing Moon cakes
Traditional moon cakes named from the bakery and the filling inside. Usually it has a pastry skin, on top consisting of the Chinese characters of "longevity" or "harmony", with some sweet, dense filling inside. Moon cakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon. Later people gradually regarded sharing moon cakes on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion.
Guessing Lantern Riddles
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people gather to guess the riddles on the lanterns that hung in public places. As it is quite popular among young people, there are always love stories spread at this time, and become a new style of expressing love through lantern riddles on Mid-Autumn Festival.
If you also have interest in Chinese traditional culture, visiting China on specific traditional festivals will definitely give you a real cultural experience.
This year we look forward to the achievement of vaccine as soon as possible. We also believe that the global epidemic will finally become past. Wish everyone a good health and we will meet in the coming year