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Dave Besseling

The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar.
As people in Hong Kong once again feast on mooncakes and look forward to gathering under the full moon with colourful lanterns, we look back at how the city has celebrated the festivals in the past, as seen through the lens of South China Morning Post photographers.












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Hong Kong

A history of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong in pictures, from families with lanterns in parks to fire dragon dances

A boy celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong in 2004. Photo: SCMP

1970: Children take part in the lantern parade in Tai Hang. Photo: Chan Kiu

2010: The Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival in Victoria Park. Photo: David Wong

1990: A hoarding for Wing Wah’s mooncakes in Wan Chai. Photo: SCMP

2019: Residents of Wah Fu Estate, in Pok Fu Lam, attend the Pok Fu Lam Fire Dragon Dance. Photo: May Tse

2019: The Pok Fu Lam Fire Dragon Dance ends at Waterfall Bay, in Pok Fu Lam. Photo: May Tse

1977: A lantern parade at Ocean Park. Photo: Sam Chan

2009: A 17-metre-long (56 ft long) lantern installation called “The Endless Innovation”, based on the Chinese philosophy classic I Ching, in Victoria Park. Photo: Dickson Lee

1990: A packed Victoria Park, in Causeway Bay, alight with lanterns. Photo: SCMP

1982: Children play with lanterns in Victoria Park. Photo: C.Y. Yu

1994: A boy celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival in Victoria Park. Photo: SCMP

Why the Chinese celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival – a brief history of the occasion

Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns in Tai O, in Hong Kong, on September 27. Photo: SCMP / Dickson Lee

Chang'e, Chinese Goddess of the Moon, 1922. From Myths and Legends of China, by Edward TC Werner, published by George G Harrap & Co, 1922. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)[04DECEMBER2020 REFLECTIONS POST MAGAZINE]CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Old photos of 1970s Hong Kong show a city that is instantly familiar, yet strangely foreign

-Strictly One Time Use Only-&#xA;&#xA;A herbalist at his shop, Hong Kong.&#xA;&#xA;CREDIT: Frank Fischbeck

A master tailor with mannequins dressed in cheongsams. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

A shop owner enjoys a pipe of tobacco in a traditional Chinese store. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

Men with their songbirds in a Hong Kong teahouse. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

Workers put up scaffolding over an advert featuring the Marlboro Man. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

A small noodle factory in the city. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

A calligrapher at his stall. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

A worker making a bamboo dim sum steamer. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

A shop at the old Mong Kok bird market. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

Rice dough is squeezed through a perforated plate to make noodles. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

An egg seller at his stall. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

Customers buy scented agarwood in a local shop. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

A scribe assists an old woman. Photo: Frank Fischbeck

Old photos of Hong Kong and Singapore in the 1950s tell the tale of two colonies

The Star Ferry crossing Victoria Harbour. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

Photographer Marjorie Doggett. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

A young Lee Fook Chee. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

A street scene in Hong Kong. In the 1950s, Singapore was home to Southeast Asian-style shophouses with arched “five-foot ways” to protect people from the tropical rain and sun. Kowloon had similar streets that served the purpose, but even back then, Hong Kong shophouses were packed in as densely as possible. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

A Singapore street scene. Bicycles were once a common sight in both Singapore and Hong Kong. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

Children swim off the docks in Hong Kong. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

Boats in Singapore harbour. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

Cars parked by The Cenotaph in Hong Kong. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

The Dalhousie Obelisk in downtown Singapore. In both Singapore and Hong Kong, city centres focused on business and government buildings. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

Hong Kong in the 1950s. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

Singapore in the 50s. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

The Fullerton Building seen from Clifford Pier’s archways. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

Wheeled conveyances remained common in both cities into about the early 60s. Rattan or wicker containers were common ways to transport goods in Hong Kong until the 50s, but were never used in Singapore. Photo: Copyright of The Estate of Lee Fook Chee

The intersection of Amoy and Cross streets in Singapore. Photo: Copyright of National Archives of Singapore (NAS)

Old photos of Hong Kong show the historic events that made it the city it is today

A photo of a confrontation between police and demonstrators in Hong Kong in 1967, one of the many images from the collection of photojournalist Frank Fischbeck appearing in the University of Hong Kong’s online exhibition. Photo: courtesy The University of Hong Kong Libraries

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 01:  In Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Premier Chou En-Lai (L) roars with laughter after US tabletennis team head Graham Steenhoven (R) suggests that his team was overfed after the many banquets the chinese gave them. Credit: Frank Fischbeck / Getty Images

--ONE TIME USE ONLY-China and Britain signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Beijing on December 19, 1984.  Credit: Frank Fischbeck

CHINA - JANUARY 01:  Chinese school children marching along the road carying red communist flag and a portrait of chairman Mao Tse Tung.  (Photo by Frank Fischbeck/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)Credit: Frank Fischbeck / Getty Images

--ONE TIME USE ONLY-The group of dignitaries below the giant British and Chinese flags at the handover ceremony inside the HK Convention Centre on July 1, 1997.Credit: Frank Fischbeck

--ONE TIME USE ONLY-The opening ceremony of the Chinese section of the Kowloon Canton Railway on 5 October,1911  Credit: Frank Fischbeck

Mr Frank Fischbeck (right), winner of the "Hong Kong in Progress" photography competition, receiving a prize from Sir Kenneth Pin-fan Fung at a prize presentation ceremony. 07JUL79 SCMP / P. Y. Tang

--ONE TIME USE ONLY-Whampoa Dock Machine ShopOn 8 December 1941, Japanese bombers appeared over Hong Kong without warning. By war's end much of the city's infrastructure was destroyed, including the main machine shop of the Hong Kong Whampoa Dock Company. The dockyard also became a major target for US planes during the Second World War. The Americans disabled facilities that the occupying Japanese Forces might use to their advantage. During similar raids the Americans Air Force targeted the Taikoo Dockyards as well as Japanese oil storage depots in Lai Chi KokCredit: Frank Fischbeck Collection

--ONE TIME USE ONLY-The Qing court was still in power in September 1909 when Governor Lugard posed on the steps of Government House with members of the Legislative Council and with the royal visitor from Peking, Prince Tsai Hsun. On LugardÕs left is Yuan Shu-hsun, Viceroy of Canton.Credit: Frank Fischbeck Collection

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Mid-Autumn Festival: history, tradition and stories

What is Mid-Autumn Festival all about? Chinese legends, lanterns, and mooncake mountains in Hong Kong explained

Colourful lanterns are a hallmark of the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: Sam Tsang

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** People look s at the Supermoon near Central Pier in Central, Hong Kong. PHOTO: SCMPOST

The production of mooncakes at Tai Tung Bakery's factory in Tuen Mun. 13SEP13 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

illustration by Lau Ka-kuen

Father and son hang lanterns at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay at Mid-autumn festival. 19SEP13

Lantern maker for Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong loves the job, but doubts it has a future with city’s cultural heritage under threat

One of the last traditional Chinese lantern makers in Hong Kong, Ha Chung-kin works on an order at his shop in Sai Ying Pun. He thinks the local lantern-making industry will be dead within 40 years. Photo: Nora Tam

Ha Chung-kin’s rocket-shaped lantern came from his watching a news report about a rocket launch in China. Photo: Ha Chung-kin

Lion dancing along Queen’s Road Central in 1911. When Ha’s father noticed how his job in finance was affecting him, he told him to join the family business of lion dancing. Photo: The University of Hong Kong Libraries

Ha Chung-kin’s rocket-shaped lantern. Photo: Ha Chung-kin

Ha received an award from the Guinness World Records in 2017 for making the largest hanging lantern in the world. Photo: Ha Chung-kin

Orders for lanterns have dropped significantly in Hong Kong, says Ha. Photo: SCMP/Nora Tam

Behind Tai Hang’s fire dragon dance, a Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival tradition born of a plague over 140 years ago

The Tai Hang fire dragon dance takes place every Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: Oliver Tsang

Tai Hang’s annual fire dragon dance has been a Mid-Autumn tradition in the Hong Kong neighbourhood for nearly 150 years. Photo: Dickson Lee

In a 2002 photograph, Chan Tak-fai shows how the fire dragon’s head is made. Photo: Martin Chan

The Tai Hang fire dragon dance in 2010. It was first held in 1880 to ward off a plague sweeping the village, and became an annual event. Photo: Martin Chan

Chan Tak-fai poses with the head and body of the dragon, which are woven from a type of grass. Photo: Sam Tsang

For many years, the dance was strictly a village affair. Photo: Chan Yuen-man

The fire dragon dance is performed in Tai Hang on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2013. Photo: Sam Tsang

For three nights, the dragon weaves its way through the narrow streets of Tai Hang. Photo: Oliver Tsang

With US$595 truffle and gold leaf mooncakes, Mid-Autumn Festival 2021 is all about luxury for people with money to spend and nowhere to travel in the coronavirus pandemic

Mooncakes served at the Man Fu Yuan restaurant at the InterContinental Singapore hotel. Demand for luxury mooncakes is up this year, bakers and hoteliers say.

The interior of Man Fu Yuan restaurant at the InterContinental Singapore hotel.

The “snow skin” mooncake collection at Singapore’s Raffles hotel.

Raffles hotel in Singapore.

 Fullerton Bay hotel in Singapore’s mooncakes.

How to make mooncakes – ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival, a lesson from Hong Kong dim sum chef Tse Sun-fuk

Mid-Autumn Festival is mooncake time.  Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Mid-Autumn Festival is mooncake time. Tse Sun-fuk shows a traditional mooncake fresh out of the mould. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Lotus paste and salted egg yolks. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Lotus paste can be bought, or made at home in a painstaking, overnight process. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Mooncakes before and after being moulded. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Bernice Chan brushes the mooncake with egg wash after the initial baking. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Why do we eat mooncakes at Mid-Autumn Festival? From the legend of moon goddess Chang’e to a folk tale about Ming Dynasty revolutionaries, the true history of a quintessential Chinese tradition

Nothing says Mid-Autumn Festival like mooncakes – pictured here from Ying Jee Club. Photo: handout

(190914) -- BEIJING, Sept. 14, 2019 (Xinhua) -- A woman in Han-style costume holds a rabbit, a traditional icon of Mid-Autumn Festival, in a museum of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

Osmanthus and rice wine mooncakes. Photo: Dim Sum Library

Rabbits are a common decorative symbol for Mid-Autumn Festival.  Photo: Vive Cake Boutique

Gluten-free mooncakes from The Cakery have come a long way from just lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk fillings.  Photo: The Cakery

Eat Drink Asia: Mooncakes then and now

Wah Yee Tang Bakery said on Facebook the proceeds from the mooncakes would be donated to a fund for people injured during the anti-extradition bill protests. Photo: Facebook

Meddling with mooncakes is a sign that we have forgotten the essence of the 3,000-year-old Mid-Autumn Festival

Mooncakes are a traditional part of the 3,000-year-old Mid-Autumn Festival. Do they really need updating? Photo: Felix Wong

InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong’s whisky chocolate mooncakes. Photo: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong

Chili Fagara’s mooncakes have a distinctive (non-mooncake) shape. Photo: Chili Fagara

From left: beef Wellington,  caviar, taro mochi with sakura shrimp and dog-friendly mooncakes. Photos: Phoebe’s Kitchen, Royal Caviar Club, Kiki Noodle Bar, Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour

Traditional mooncakes: founded in 1943, Yuen Long’s Tai Tung Bakery sells 90,000 boxes of mooncakes every year. Photo: KY Cheng

Thanksgiving 2020 vs Mid-Autumn Festival: which is best – turkey, mashed potato and pumpkin pie, or hairy crabs, snails and mooncake?

A mooncake eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: Getty Images

Thanks giving turkey

A pear tart and two homemade pumpkin pies on a festively dressed table.

Osmanthus fragrans rice cake, traditional Chinese food, gray-black table cloth, white porcelain plate, red wood chopsticks

Mid Autumn festival lanterns

A roast turkey is the centrepiece of any Thanksgiving meal, just as mooncakes are a must at Mid-Autumn Festival. Both have their fans and detractors – where do you stand? Photo: Getty Images/Tetra images RF

Lanterns light up Hong Kong’s iconic Tai O village in celebration of Mid-Autumn Festival

How to make Macau-style Portuguese egg tarts – Macanese pasteis de nata: easy, just use a decent baking tray

Macanese-style Portuguese egg tarts. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Macanese-style Portuguese egg tarts are simple to make and are a good alternative to mooncakes. Photo: Jonathan Wong

When cooked, the custard in the Portuguese egg tarts should be wobbly. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The ingredients for Portuguese egg tarts. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Roll the dough into a coil. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The dough sits flour side up in the moulds. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Press the dough into the moulds. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Pour the custard into the tart shells. Photo: Jonathan Wong


Memorable moments captured by Post photographers over the past half-century show the different ways Hongkongers enjoy the festival



As people in Hong Kong gather under the full moon with colourful lanterns, we look back at past celebrations of the festival in the city.


Hong Kong culture

Hong Kong photographers

Photo essay