Celebrating Chinese National Holiday - Fall Festival

There is a lot to learn about a country that you can’t just read in a text book or online.  We have found its the things you learn when actually living in the country and experiencing the culture has been one of the most rewarding treasures.  While there are many days when we struggle performing the simplest of tasks… our Shanghai highs far out weight our Shanghai lows.  

There is a lot we have learned and grown from…  this month we are celebrating one of China’s national holidays - The Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Chinese have such great traditions and every year they celebrate this National holiday with The Mid-Autumn Festival being one of the four most important Chinese festivals.  Moon Cakes are pastries that have a rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste is surrounded by a thin (2–3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.   Seems like a perfectly great way to ruin what could be a tasty pasty treat.   We think they are nasty!  It is common practice to give these as gifts… we surely re-gifted any we received to our driver and ayi.  

Chinese National Day is celebrated throughout China with a variety of organized festivities including fireworks and concerts.  Most public places are decorated with the national flag and the fireworks are all night long!   It puts to shame Disney’s fireworks and is quite a show!!

They heard cake and immediately thought … YUM!! 

Lets just say the before pictures… were much better then the after.

I am so incredibly proud of my children for learning on very hard lesson in life so early on… learning how to adapt.  This is actually something they learn in nearly every aspect of their life here.   From the food they eat… the accents and difficulty with language… the challenges sometimes of getting even the simplest task done…  They take each challenge and grow… and I am grateful that they have learned the ability to adapt, because there are times when I definitely need a refresher & trust they are right there to give it to me!