Celebrations of China National Day

Is china strange to you? Are you interested in Chinese History? Start from the birthday of P.R.China – China National Day
History of China National Day

October 1st, National Day, has been celebrated by Chinese people since the People's Republic of China was found in 1949，under the leadership of Chairman Mao and Chinese Communist Party!

On October 1st, 1949，Chairman Mao declared victory in the war against Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalists. He raised the flag of the newly declared People's Republic of China in front of around 300,000 soldiers and citizens in a ceremony in Tiananmen Square. On that day, a great new China was founded. China becomes an independent country.

Celebrations and Things to do on modern China National Day

The National Day is celebrated throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, Taiwan. There are a variety of government-organised festivities, including fireworks and concerts on that day. Public places, such as Tiananmen Square in Beijing, are decorated in a festive theme. Many people from different directions of the world will come to see that big celebration. If you are interested in China tours, you can take China Flights and there will be excellent celebrations waiting for you. Every five years there will be the National Day Parade, and Large-scale official celebrations may be held, including an inspection of troops on Tiananmen Square. More notable of these events included Deng Xiaopings inspection in 1984 and Jiang Zemin's inspection in 1999 and Hu Jintao's expected inspection in 2009.

China National Day Holiday

National Day holiday week is referred to as one of the "Golden Weeks" of the year. The other one is the week held to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. China 'National Day is celebrated every year on October 1. It is a public and one of the most important holidays in China. Generally speaking, people will have 7 days vocation. So they will make a tour packages around China. In the first few days, people can travel the places where there are big and fantastic celebrations, for example Beijing, Tibet and Yunnan. After that people can travel to the other attractions in China, like Guilin and Hong Kong. Some people like an independent tour while others will join the travel agency or ask it to tailor-made a tour for them. Well, all in all, most people will go out home to make a tour during the 7 days vocation. But some people will stay at home to enjoy the TV show as the outside is so crowded.

Legends about Mid-Autumn Festival in China

 

   There are many beautiful legends about the moon in China. the most popular one tells how a goddess named Chang'e ascended to the moon.
 

Chang'e Flying to the Moon

   A long, long time ago, a terrible drought plagued the earth. Ten suns burned fiercely in the sky like smoldering volcanoes. The trees and grass were scorched. The land was cracked and parched, and rivers ran dry. Many people died of hunger and thirst.The King of Heaven sent Hou Yi down to the earth to help. When Hou Yi arrived, he took out his red bow and white arrows and shot down nine suns one after another. The weather immediately turned cooler. Heavy rains filled the rivers with fresh water and the grass and trees turned green. Life had been restored and humanity was saved. One day, a charming young woman, Chang'e makes her way home from a stream,holding a bamboo contaiver. A young man comes forward, asking for a drink. When she sees the red bow and white arrows hanging from his belt, Chang'e tealizes that he is their savior, Hou Yi. Inviting him to drink, Chang'e plucks a beautiful flower and gives it to him as a token of respect. Hou Yi, in turn, selects a beautiful silver fox fur as his gift for her. This meeting kindles the spark of their love. And soon after that, they get married.A mortal's life is limited, of course. So in order to enjoy his happy life with Chang'e forever, Hou Yi decides to look for an elixir of life.He goes to the Kunlun Mountains where the Western Queen Mother lives.Out of respect for the good deeds he has done, the Western Queen Mother rewards Hou Yi with elixir, a fine powder made from kerndls of fruit which grows on the tree of eternity. At the same time, she tells him:If you and your wife share the elixir, you will both enjoy eternal life. But if only one of you takes it,that one will ascend to Heaven and become immortal.Hou Yi returns home and tells his wife all that has happened and they decide to drink the elixir together on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month when the moon is full and bright.A wicked and merciless man named Feng Meng secretly hears about their plan.He wishes Hou Yi an early death so that he can drink the elixir himeslf and become immortal. His opportunity finally arrives. One day,when the full moon is rising, Hou Yi is on his way home from hunting. Feng Meng kills him. The murderer then runs to Hou Yi's home and forces Chang'e to give him the elixir, Without hesitating, Chang'e picks up the elixir and drinks it all. Overcome with grief, Chang'e rushes to her dead husband's sied, weeping bitterly. Soon the elixir begins to have its effect and Chang'e feels herself being lifted towards Heaven. Chang'e decides to live on the moon because it is nearest to the earth. There she lives a simple and contented life. Even though she is in Heaven, her heart remains in the world of mortals. Never does she forget the deep love she has for Hou Yi and the love she feels for the people who have shared their sadness and happiness.
   Another legend explained the role of the Old Man on the Moon, the Divine Match-maker. The Chinese believed that marriages were made in Heaven but prepared on the moon. The Old Man on the Moon tied the feet of young men and women with red cords for marriage. Thus a maiden made offerings and prayed to him during the Mid-Autumn Festival, hoping that some day she would ride in the red bridal sedan chair.
  China has a history of more than 5,000 years. It is a country that is full of legend and power.  Many people dream to make a China Tour to learn its mystery and profound history.

Moon Cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival

Moon Cakes

Different Kinds of Moon Cakes

Like a Full Moon

Moon Cakes Made in China

Want to Have ?

Mouth is Watering

Romantic Moon cakes

What in it ?

   There is a story about the moon-cake. It was said that during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon caked was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attached and overthrew the government. Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and was called the Moon Cake.
   Nowadays, there are thousands varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival. Moon cakes were elaborate sacrifices offered to Moon Goddess at the beginning. As time goes by, people have gradually integrated the activity in praise of the moon with the moon cakes. Now at the Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat moon cakes to express their homesickness and love for their family member, and their hope for a bumper harvest and a happy life, as the moon cake symbolizes family reunion. Moon cakes made in different parts of China have different flavors. In terms of the places of production, there are Beijing, Guangdong, Suzhou, Taiwan, Yunnan, Hong Kong and Chaozhou moon cakes; in terms of tastes, there are sweet, salty, sweet and salty, and spicy moon cakes; and in terms of fillings, there are five kinds of kernels, sweetened beam paste, crystal sugar, sesame seeds and ham. Some moon cakes have pulp crust; some have sweet crust; and the others have thin and crisp crust. Tourists from all over the world must not forget to taste various kinds of delicious moon cakes at the Mid-Autumn Festival.
   Chinese people love this festival. Foreigners also like to  make a China Tour to experience the traditional Chinese festival, Mid-autumn Festival, from which they can learn more about the kindness of Chinese people, the profound history, culture, art and folk story of China.

Celebrations and Things to Do in Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

At the Mid-Autumn Festival, people offer sacrifices and pay homage to the moon, and taste moon cakes. In ancient times, when celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, people set a large incense burner table in the courtyard bathed in silver moonlight, on which moon cakes, a water melon cut in the shape of a lotus flower, apples, red jujubes, plums, grapes and other sacrifices were placed. Under the bright moon, a portrait of Moon Goddess was put on a table, facing the moon, and red candles were lit. Then the family members paid homage to the moon one by one, praying for family reunion and safety. The custom of worshiping the moon originated from the capital city in the Northern Song Dynasty. On the night of the festival, all the people o f the whole city, men and women, old and young, put on the adult's clothes, burned joss sticks, paid respects to the moon and expressed their wishes, praying for the blessing of Moon Goddess. Many modern activities of appreciating the moon originated from the activities of worshipping the moon in ancient times. Now, the Chinese people invite friends and relatives to hold family reunion feasts for celebration at the night of the Mid-autumn Festival. After the feasts, they sacrifice moon cakes, fruits and wine to the full moon at the open spaces. Each would make a vow to Goddess of the moon at this time, young men hope to make a beautiful girl friend, conversely, the young girls hope to make a handsome boy friend and become more beautiful; children hope they can take a first class in their study; parents hope their children have a good luck in everything. After the vows, they begin to admire the full moon, taste moon cakes, drinking, chatting even dancing under the moon. In modern China, these are very common things to be done in the Mid-autumn festival. Actually, if you travel to different areas in China you will find some different way of celebration such as: putting pomelo rinds on one's head, carrying the alight lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, floating sky lanterns, burning incenses to the moon, planting Mid-Autumn trees, collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them evenly among family members, perform the Fire Dragon Dances...these activities are so interesting that many foreigners hope to make a China Tour during the Mid-Autumn Day to enjoy the festival with the Chinese families when they visit China .

Moon cakes

China Festivals

Appreciate the bright Moon by the lake

Romantic Love on Mid-Autumn Day

Delicious Moon Cakes

Mid-Autumn Festival

  Mid-Autumn Festival, is one of the most popular traditional festivals in China. It is a well-known harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people which could date back over 3,000 years ago.The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (which falls between the last), a date when the moon is supposedly in its fullest and roundest shape. In the Zhou Dynasty (11th century-256 B.C.), people held ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon when the moon became full in mid autumn. The custom was passed down to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) when the 15th day of the eighth lunar month was formally named the Mid-Autumn Festival.
   The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake. Now when the festival comes, people would sit together, maybe on the grass, on the roof of the building, on the top of the mountain, beside the lake… to enjoy the delicious moon cakes, appreciate the bright full moon, celebrate the bumper harvest and enjoy the family love and happiness. To the Chinese people, the full moon symbolizes family reunion, so does the "moon cakes." Hence the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Family Reunion Festival.
   A China tour to enjoy Mid-autumn Festival by tasting moon cakes, listening to famous fairy tales - Chang'e Flying to the Moon, taking part in sacrifice rite, a reunion part ... which offer you a impressive experience of Chiese fesitival culture .