Moon Festival Evening Tea

"May we live long and share the beauty of the moon together, even if we are a hundred miles apart."
~ Unknown poet


internet

On September 27 many people around the world will be celebrating the Moon Festival also known as the Harvest Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Traditional celebrations take place on this date in China and other neighboring Asian countries. The Chinese have celebrated the harvest during the autumn full moon since the Shang Dynasty (16th to 10th century B.C.)



Moon Cakes are eaten on this night and given as gifts to family members and hosts. They are cut into wedges and served with tea. 


Typically moon cakes are sold in tin squares and are individually wrapped.


The fat content is epic! Many cakes are filled with lotus bean paste and an egg yolk. It doesn't take many wedges to fill your appetite.



Not a great photo...but this is a photo I took in 2003 in the Sichuan area of China during the week of the Moon Festival. From train stations to malls, moon cakes were sold everywhere. Here is a typical display-so many varieties!


Please join me outside as we celebrate the Moon Festival with a traditional evening tea. The sunlight is slowly leaving and we can light lanterns to illuminate our tea.

Lanterns in Hong Kong I admired.


Tea will be served on Aynsley placemats which were a wedding present. The pattern is Pembroke.


Chrysanthemum tea will be served in my new Blue Willow patterned Sadler teapot. I bought this without giving much thought to the dimensions. When I read that it was a two cup pot, I assumed as a tea lover it would be much larger. :)

The detail is beautiful.

Embossed and signed bottom


Please help yourself to a double happiness cup


and a moon cake.


"The moon is at her full, and riding high
Floods the calm fields with light
The airs that hovers in the summer sky
are all asleep to-night."

~William Cullen Bryant



Enjoy the beauty of the upcoming autumn moon!
~Nora








Comments

  1. What a lovely tradition - I'd not heard of it before, but now I have plans to have a tea.

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  2. Thank you for the information on the Moon Festival, Nora. Your new Sadler Blue Willow Teapot is so pretty, as is your Aynsley placemat. I'd love to sample a moon cake under the lantern lights and the Harvest Moon.

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  3. Oh Nora, your site is lovely my dear friend! I love this post! The information is wonderful! I especially love the art work on the placemat. It is so pretty. Have a wonderful evening! Lynn

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  4. A very interesting post - I really enjoyed it.
    Enjoy your week,

    Diana

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  5. Nora, you have shared some great information about the Moon Festival. We Islanders don't celebrate it here but I'm sure our Chinese folks do. I don't think I have ever seen moon cakes but I have heard of them. Love your new Blue Willow teapot. Sadler is a fine maker and your teapot is really darling! The placemat is lovely too. Thanks for sharing and Happy Autumn!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  6. What a fabulous way to celebrate the moon festival! Your info on this celebration is great. The photos in China are lovely. Your blue and white teapot is pretty having the willow pattern. Have a grand week. Please, pop over and view my post Orange Bursts Upon Autumn Tea!

    Pam

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  7. Thank you for the enlightening post, Nora! I've enjoyed mooncakes before but didn't really know much about the Moon Festival until I read your post!

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  8. An informative post. The 2-cup Sadler Blue Willow teapot is also in my collection. Sadler made them in other patterns. I am quite fond of mine. Hoping for clear skies on the night of the full moon.

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  9. Good morning, sweet Nora. What a fascinating post, my friend. Before now I did not know about the Moon Festival :)

    Thank you for joining Roses of Inspiration this week - you are such a delight! Hugs!

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  10. I love moon cakes!! That is a gorgeous teapot.

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  11. Hi Nora,
    I do love all Sadler teapots and have that same miniature one. I think they are quite costly on e-bay. I have never tried moon cakes. Very Moon Festival Evening Tea. Happy Tea Day! Karen

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  12. Hi Nora,
    I do love all Sadler teapots and have that same miniature one. I think they are quite costly on e-bay. I have never tried moon cakes. Very Moon Festival Evening Tea. Happy Tea Day! Karen

    ReplyDelete

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Nora