CRI听力:Chinese Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival, dating back thousands of years ago, is celebrated each year on the fifteenth day of the eighth full moon around the time of the autumn equinox.

During the happy occasion, people eat different fresh fruits and nuts as well as mooncakes, thick pastries with various fillings, which resemble the full moon and symbolize happiness and family reunions.

Many folks on the Taiwan island have returned to the mainland for the holiday. For them, traditional local delicacies are a must to give away to friends and family members.

"I'm carrying one of Taiwan's specialties, pineapple tarts. They are made of very fresh pineapple, and you can see the word 'Taiwan' on the box, so as to show the food is from my hometown."

It is estimated that more than 2,000 Taiwan people will fly across the Straits to Fuzhou alone to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. The city has seen a 30-percent increase in Taiwan visitors during the three-day holiday.

Elsewhere in China, lots of people are taking trips for relaxation. A Ba County in southwestern Sichuan Province, which was struck by a severe earthquake in 2008, has been rebuilt as an ethnic folk culture city. One travel agent says visitors have been flocking into A Ba and other destinations across the province.

"Travelers can enjoy colorful blooming lily flowers in the county. Children can choose to entertain themselves at the newly-opened aquarium where they can watch the exciting dolphin performance."

Meanwhile, villagers from south China's Guangdong Province are celebrating the festival by burning brick towers.

Each night during the holiday, they build a 3.8-meter-high, cone-shaped brick tower and fill it with straw, hay and wood shavings. Once a fire is lit, villagers poke the burning materials to make the flames spurt out of the tower to honor their ancestral heroes.

"Everyone cheers as the flames rise. The higher the flames, the better luck we will have."

In homes, two full plates of mooncakes, water chestnuts and fruits are placed on the table as sacrificial offerings to the Goddess of the Moon. People also use grapefruit "balls" with lighted joss sticks to pray for peace, safety and family reunions during the entire year.

"Parents of my age have almost forgotten the customs like lighting joss-stick balls and offering sacrifices to the God of Moon. Thanks to this activity, we have got to know these traditions again."

Compatriots living overseas, however, may miss the festive fun this year as more countries including Germany, France, the Philippines and Sudan have refused to allow Chinese mooncakes to be sent through the mail.

Officials say the ban on mooncakes is due to different food inspection standards. For example, Europe's standards for aflatoxins, toxins produced by a mold that grows in nuts, seeds and legumes, are higher than China's.

For CRI, this is Wei Tong.