Moon Cakes

Every autumn since they first moved in next door 7 years ago, our Malaysian neighbors bring us moon cakes. Mr. N. and I are both flattered and charmed by this. The Christian Science Monitor has a nice background story about the Chinese Moon Festival.

Each fall, in China, families gather on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival. (It's called Zhongqiu Jie in Chinese.)

The Chinese use a lunar calendar to determine on which day the Mid-Autumn Festival will fall each year. This year, the festivities occur Sept. 25, when the full moon lights up the night sky.

On this day, Chinese children get to stay up past their usual bedtime. Families gather in open spaces – sometimes on mountains or beaches – to gaze at the full moon.

While they're doing this, they eat mooncakes. These are small stuffed cakes with intricate designs on them. In Hong Kong and Singapore, people celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival light paper lanterns as well.

Could a wingnut ever enjoy Moon Cakes? Would a Christian fundamentalist call this a pagan celebration and slam the door? Could Lou Dobbs ever shut-the-fuck-up for a second about immigration issues and enjoy the traditions of someone else’s culture? Could Michelle Malkin restrain her paranoia about terrorists long enough to just say “Thank you”?

Yeah, I didn’t think so either.