Context: This festival comes from my friend JZ, a USC student who grew up in a Chinese Ukrainian household in Toronto. He celebrated both aspects of Chinese and Ukrainian culture and was kind enough to share some of the experiences he’s had with that in his life with me.

Collection:

JZ: Lunar cycles are so big in China there’s so many festivals that are associated with them. I remember this one, its called just Moon Festival. I don’t really recall the story behind it but you have to eat moon cakes for it. You literally never eat moon cakes outside of the moon festival, I hated them they suck so much. There are all of these flavors that they are filled with but I never liked any of them. The typical go to filling is this red bean paste that is really popular in China. It’s sweet but weird. Chinese people like to put weird things in their desserts.

Analysis: This festival is in line with the other things that JZ told me about Chinese culture and celebration. For one thing, the emphasis on the lunar cycles indicates that China is a very cyclical culture that has reverence for its past and history. The traditional eating of moon cakes points towards China’s emphasis on food and food as a ritual that brings family together. Although the actual moon cake may not be very good, it is still traditionally eaten because it is a way to bring the family together under one roof at one table all eating the same thing.