The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very important festival for the Chinese people. As it was approaching, Wanderlust Exchange’s Hangzhou au pair took part in the special cultural activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival, learning about the allusions to the Mid-Autumn Festival and how the Chinese people celebrate it.
There is an old Chinese poem about the Mid-Autumn Festival: ‘But I wish for a long time, a thousand miles to be together.’ On this day of the year when the moon is the biggest and fullest, the Chinese people’s best wish is to be together as a family.
Wanderlust Exchange au pairs travel thousands of miles to host families in China. Although they are temporarily separated from their families, the lovely host mums, dads and children in China all bring warmth to the au pairs.
Wanderlust Exchange au pairs were guided by their teachers to make handmade iced mooncakes. This was a new and interesting experience for the au pairs. While interacting with the teacher, the au pairs not only learnt about the significance of mooncakes to the Chinese people, but also got to taste the mooncakes made by their own hands.
There are four main types of mooncakes in China, namely ‘Cantonese mooncakes’, ‘Chiu Chow mooncakes’, ‘Suzhou mooncakes’ and ‘Beijing mooncakes’.
In addition to iced mooncakes, mooncakes come in a variety of other complimentary flavours, such as:
Date paste mooncake, fresh meat mooncake, five-kernel mooncake, red bean paste mooncake, coconut mooncake, lotus seed paste and egg yolk mooncake......
Mooncakes have become an important part of China’s food culture and are a traditional food custom of Chinese folklore. In China, mooncakes are regarded as a symbol of good luck and reunion, and also reflect people’s good wishes for family reunion. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is shining in the sky, families are reunited and enjoying mooncakes.
Through the cultural activity of making iced mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, WE not only helped international au pairs to understand the traditional Chinese culture, but also conveyed the love and wishes belonging to China to our friends from all over the world.
If you’re interested in learning more about Chinese culture and experiencing it firsthand by coming to China, please don't hesitate to reach out to Wanderlust. We're here to help you embark on your own incredible journey of cultural exchange and discovery.
Wanderlust Exchange encourages the exploration of self-awareness and personal development , and fostering of global understanding. We desire to bridge cultural divide and contribute to build the world with more trust, understanding and diversity among all.
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