Sep. 21st  is the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节Zhōngqiū jié) of 2021.

Celebrated on the full moon day, the 15th day of the 8th month  of Chinese lunar calendar,  is also called Moon Festival. 

This is the 2nd most important traditional Chinese festival after Chinese New Year. For more than 3000 years, people worship moon as the symbol of harmony and reunion, and celebrate the bountiful harvest that the great mother nature offers to life. 

Traditional Festival Activities

Moon watching (赏月/ shǎng yuè) :  It is believed on this day, the moon is the brightest and roundest of a year. As a custom, relatives and friends get together for an outdoor reunion, watching moon, burning incense to the Goddess of Moon for blessings to marriage and romantic relations;  

 ( Many poems are dedicated to Moon Festival. Here is one: Observing the Moon/古朗月行. by Li Bai) 

Floating Sky Lanterns(许愿灯笼/ dēnglóng), also called prayer lanterns, are lightened up and sent to the sky, lighting way to prosperity and good luck; 

(Cartoon Emmy & GooRoo: Tears of the Moon, to see how friends together make sky lanterns). 

Eating Mooncakes (月饼Yuèbǐng), a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean or lotus-seed paste in round form, is the most symbolic program of this festival. In Chinese culture, the full circle or round form stands for " fulfilled", "oneness", "unity".  Sharing a round moon cake, with  a cup of green tea, among families and friends under a fullest moon since carries its highest wish for harmony. 

May we all be blessed with longevity and serenity

/ 但愿人长久(Dàn yuàn rén chángjiǔ)

Though far apart, we will share the beauty of the moon

/千里共婵娟 (qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān)