What to eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the saying goes: "August and fifteenth months are round, and the Mid-Autumn moon cakes are fragrant and sweet." So of course we eat moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

But depending on the customs of different places, the food you eat varies.

Eating ducks The Mulao people in Yunnan, my country, buy pancakes and kill ducks on August 15th to celebrate this traditional festival.

In order to commemorate the family of three sugar sellers who used to sell sugar in the village to mobilize the villagers to kill Fangui guys, Mulao people buy cakes and kill ducks every August 15th to educate future generations not to forget the struggle against aggression.

Eating taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival means to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters, and also expresses disbelief in evil spirits.

"Chaozhou Fu Zhi" written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty said: "Playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, peeling taro and eating it is called peeling ghost skin."

Peeling ghosts and eating them is like Zhong Kui's spirit of exorcising ghosts, which is respectable.

Eating snails As for eating snails in the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is recorded in the "Shunde County Chronicle" during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty: "Looking at the sun in August, people still eat snails with taro." Folks believe that snails in the Mid-Autumn Festival can improve eyesight.

According to analysis, snail meat is rich in nutrients, and the vitamin A it contains is an important substance for the visual pigment of the eyes.

Eating snails can improve eyesight, which makes sense.

But why must we be particularly keen on eating during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Some people point out that around the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is the time when the snails are empty and there are no small snails in the abdomen, so the meat is particularly plump.

This is the best time to eat snails.

Nowadays, among the people in Guangzhou, many families have the habit of frying snails during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Eating pumpkins is celebrated throughout the Mid-Autumn Festival across the Yangtze River, and every household has the custom of eating old pumpkins and burning glutinous rice in August and a half.

Drinking Osmanthus Wine On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people look up at the bright moon, smell the fragrance of osmanthus, and think of Wu Gang cutting osmanthus. Drinking a cup of osmanthus honey wine to celebrate the sweetness of the family and gather together has become a holiday enjoyment.

Osmanthus is not only for viewing, but also has edible value.

Osmanthus is not only for viewing, but also has edible value.

In Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs", there are poems such as "aiding Ji's fight and drinking cinnamon pulp" and "laying osmanthus and drinking pepper pulp".

It can be seen that the age of drinking osmanthus and making wine in our country is quite long ago.

Eating lotus root boxes during the Mid-Autumn Festival also symbolizes reunion, especially eating "lotus root boxes".

People in Jiangsu and Zhejiang usually slice lotus root into slices, connect the lower ends of each two slices, stuff them with meat, clams, etc., and fry the outside until golden brown. This is also called lotus root cake, which is similar to moon cakes.

There are two main varieties of lotus root on the market today, namely seven-hole lotus root and nine-hole lotus root.

Seven-hole lotus root is mostly cultivated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This variety has excellent texture, tender meat, crispy, sweet, and flawless whiteness.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that lotus root changes from cool to warm in nature after being cooked, which is beneficial to the spleen and stomach. It has the effects of nourishing the stomach, nourishing yin, and replenishing blood.

Moon worship, moon appreciation, moon worship, tide watching, lighting lanterns, guessing riddles, eating moon cakes, appreciating osmanthus flowers, drinking osmanthus wine, playing with lanterns and burning pagodas are all traditional activities.

Mongolian people love to play the game of "chasing the moon".

People mounted their horses and galloped on the grassland under the silvery moonlight.

They galloped toward the west, and the moon rose in the east and set in the west.

The persistent Mongolian rider will not stop "chasing the moon" until the moon sets in the west.

Tibetans The custom of Tibetan compatriots in some areas of Tibet to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival is to "seek the moon".

That night, young men and women and children walked along the river, followed the bright moon reflected in the water, and watched the moon shadow in the surrounding river ponds, and then went home to reunite and eat moon cakes.

The Dong people of Guangxi have the custom of "walking the moon".

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Lusheng singing and dancing troupes from each village walked in the moonlight to the nearby village, where they gathered with the villagers to admire the moon, compete in singing and dancing, and rejoice all night long.

The De'ang people of Yunnan Province "cross the moon".

The young men and women of the De'ang ethnic group in Luxi, Yunnan, during the Mid-Autumn Festival when the moon is high and extremely bright, a melodious gourd sheng sound is heard from time to time at the top of the mountain. The young men and women "string the moon" together to express their true feelings.

Some people also send betel nuts and tea through "Moon Moon" to make a marriage contract.

The traditional custom of the Yi people in Yunnan during the Mid-Autumn Festival is to "dance to the moon".

At night, men, women, and children from all the villages of this ethnic group gather in the open space in the mountain village. The girls wearing veils, the young men wearing cloth belts on their heads, as well as the old men, old ladies, and little children all sing and dance passionately, especially

These are the antiphonal songs of young men and women expressing their love, and it seems as if the moon is also moved by them, becoming more and more charming and bright.

On the "Tiger Day" before the festival, the Gelao people slaughter a bull and keep the heart of the bull until the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival to worship ancestors and welcome the new valley. They call it the "August Festival".

The Korean people use wooden poles and pine branches to build a "moon-watching frame".

When the bright moon rises in the sky, several elected elderly people are invited to climb onto the moon-watching frame.

After the old man looks at the moon, he lights the moon-gazing frame, beats the long drum, plays the flute, and dances "Farmhouse Music and Dance" together.

The Zhuang people in western Guangxi have a more typical activity of "sacrifice to the moon and invite gods". Every year in the middle of August of the lunar calendar, sometimes on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people set up a table in the open air at the head of the village to place sacrifices and incense burners.

The branch or bamboo branch of the tree on the right, about one foot high, symbolizes the tree and also serves as the ladder for the moon god to descend to earth and ascend to heaven. The elements of the ancient moon myth are preserved here.

The whole activity is divided into four stages: inviting the moon god to come down to earth, with one or two women acting as the spokesperson of the moon god; antiphonal songs between gods and men; fortune telling by the moon god; and singers singing songs to send the moon god back to heaven.

The Li people of the Li ethnic group call the Mid-Autumn Festival the "August Meeting" or the "Tiaosheng Festival".

At that time, singing and dancing gatherings will be held in each market town. A "tiaoshengtou" (i.e. leader) in each village will lead young men and women to participate. They will give each other moon cakes, fragrant cakes, sweet cakes, flower towels, colorful fans and vests, and there will be an endless flow of people.

At night, they gather around the fire, roast game, drink rice wine, and sing antiphonal songs. Unmarried young people take the opportunity to find their future partners.

These are ethnic minorities.