Mid-Autumn Festival

Hong Kong celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival almost two weeks ago, but since I have been pretty busy, I am just getting around to posting pics. Overall the holiday was okay, nothing as spectacular as Loi Kratang in Thailand, but better than Columbus Day.

There are several traditions for the Mid-Autumn Festival which is designated by the lunar calendar. People have meals with their family, like Thanksgiving, and they give and eat mooncakes, a little round sweet desert that has now been commercialized by the likes of Haagen-Dazs. They tell myths about the woman in the moon and a rabbit. They tell riddles and probably the most visual sign of the holiday- other than the sales and Kelly Chen pushing mooncakes- are the lanterns.

The display above features images from the aforementioned myths and the ones below are more traditional. (Note: The big white letters on the top of the building say "Jesus is LORD".)

"She comes in colors ev'rywhere;
when She combs her hair
She's like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors "

Nothing like flowers to cheer up your best gal... (only gal).

Finally, there was a strange art show of strangely shaped and designed rats. This one features the Hong Kong flag.