One of Hong Kong's annual festivals, the others being the Lunar New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival, September 24, is celebrated with colourful lanterns and the giving of moon cakes. People in Hong Kong start preparing for the Festival some days before the full autumn moon.
Shops sell colourful lanterns in such shapes as rabbits, fish and fruit.
As legend has it, I, the Divine Archer, shot down nine of ten suns that were plaguing the world. He was given the reward of a herb of immortality which he then hid. His wife, Chang O, found and ate the herb and, knowing her husband would be angry when he found out, fled to the moon. She arrived breathless, coughed and spat out the herb, which promptly turned into the Jade Rabbit, an important mythological character. These cakes are very symbolic of the autumn celebration and are traditionally given as gifts to friends and family.