Mandarin Students Make Mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mandarin classes at Campolindo made snowskin mooncakes to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 21. The Mid-Autumn Festival or Chinese Moon Festival is celebrated by many east Asian countries. The holiday is observed on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar, and was on September 21st in the Gregorian calendar this year.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat mooncakes. Mooncakes are a type of Chinese pastry that often include red bean, egg yolk, or lotus paste. In recent years, newer types of mooncakes have been popularized like the snowskin mooncake.

“We make this steamed dough, roll them up into little balls, and flatten them, so that we can fill them up with red bean paste. After the balls are filled up with red bean paste, we put them into these pretty molds and then they’re ready to eat,” said junior Olivia Woo.

The holiday is important to many families because it is a time for gathering together to have a family dinner and watch the full moon. “It’s a time when there’s a full moon, and Chinese people are reminded of their family when they look at the moon. It’s also a time where people get to sit down and eat dinner with their family,” said junior Tai Lee.

Junior Derek Lee said, “I really enjoyed making the mooncakes and they were really good. I got to learn more about Chinese culture which was really fun to learn.”