MID-AUTUMN Festival is the second-grandest festival in China after Chinese New Year. Here are more traditional celebrations of the festival.

4. Burning pagodas

In some places, burning pagodas during the Mid-Autumn Festival is another tradition.

When night falls, people gather together in an empty place, and pick up broken bricks and tiles to pile up several pagodas, large and small. The pagodas are hollow and are stuffed with firewood.

When all the pagodas are built up, someone will shout, “Ignite the fire!” Then, the firewood in the pagodas is lit, and the red flames rise and sparks explode, through which people express the joy of harvest in autumn.

5. Playing clay rabbit

The clay rabbit is a traditional handicraft in Beijing at Mid-Autumn Festival. Based on an image of the Jade Rabbit from the story of Chang’e in the Moon Palace, a clay rabbit is personalized and made in an artistic form.

Some people imitate opera characters and carve the rabbit in a stylized way, such as a warrior with a golden helmet and armor, riding lions, elephants and other beasts of prey, or some riding peacocks, cranes and other birds.

The rabbit figure once was an offering to worship the moon, but later, it became a popular children’s toy.

6. Stealing vegetables

Among the Dong ethnic group in Central China’s Hunan Province, it is the custom for young ladies to steal vegetables on Mid-Autumn Festival night.

There is a legend that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fairy in the Moon Palace will go down to the human world to spread sweet dew on the vegetables. Whoever eats vegetables with sweet dew on this night will be healthy and happy. Also, women and girls express their adoration to their favorite young men by this way.

7. Osmanthus-flavored wine

Osmanthus flowers bloom and spread a sweet scent in autumn. Osmanthus-flavored wine is a gift during this season.

Osmanthus fragrance is a symbol of prosperity and auspiciousness. Drinking Osmanthus fragrance wine at Mid-Autumn Festival implies sweetness, wealth and auspiciousness, and prosperity of the family. (China Daily)