SIUC students will celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival, or Chinese Mooncake Festival, this weekend with dinner, games, and good times.

The Chinese Student Association is having a dinner tonight at the China Queen restaurant on the strip to celebrate the Mooncake Festival, said Adrian Yong, a senior in Marketing from Malaysia.

We’re having dinner and lucky draws from seven to nine, he said. It’s open to all the public.

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Yong said the celebration is one of China’s five major festivals. I believe the Mooncake Festival is the second greatest event besides Chinese New Year, Yong said.

The legend behind the festival dates back to a time when the Han nationality of China were imprisoned by Mongolians, said Xinyi Zhou, graduate student in business from China.

The prisoners planed to escape, but had no way to pass messages, Zhou said. So they put they messages in mooncakes, and they were then able to escape.

The festival is celebrated in September in solar years, and on August 15 during lunar years, Zhou said. Although the date may change from year to year, the themes of celebration do not.

It’s like a family reunion, Zhou said. We eat mooncakes and enjoy the clear, pretty sky. It is believed that the moon is the roundest on the day of the Festival.

For Americans, the celebration sparks curiosity and interest, said Diane Hodgson, International Programs and Services adviser.

Americans find the Mooncake Festivals interesting, she said. It’s so similar to our Thanksgiving.

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