15th Aug,2010 ( Vietnamese lunar calendar)

The Mid Autumn Festival (Trung Thu) is also known as the Moon Festival, and is a popular Chinese celebration dating back over 3,000 years to China’s Zhou Dynasty. The Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake, of which there are many different varieties. Cakes usually have at least one dried, salted egg yolk and come with fillings of coconut, yellow or green bean, lotus seed or minced pork. All are sweet.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Brightly lit lanterns are often carried around by children.

The Vietnamese version of this holiday is said to have originated in the 8th century, during the reign of Emperor Minh-Hoang. Legend says that the Emperor took his Empress, Duong Quy Phi, to a lake where he read a poem that he had composed to her by the light of the moon.

( by Adam Bray)

“Nghinh Ong” is devoted to whale worship and is celebrated at the Ong pagoda by thousands of Chinese and Vietnamese participants in Phan Thiet. People gather to pray for happiness, health and good fortune for family and friends. Ong Pagoda was built to worship Quan Gong and was built in November 1770 (Year of the Tiger), in Duc Nghia Precinct, Phan Thiet City. It has a beautiful, Chinese architecture. A statue of Quan Kong and an old bell cast in Guang Tung (China) are preserved here. On festival days, the pagoda is decorated with flower garlands. Colorful lanterns are hung during the night. There are some cultural activities such as “hat boi” (classical dramas performances) and “hat ba trao” (singing traditional local folk songs). The festival continues with elaborate parades, costumes and an enormous dragon dance.

( by Adam Bray)