中秋节，又称月夕、秋节、仲秋节、八月节、八月会、追月节、玩月节、拜月节、女儿节或团圆节，是流行于中国众多民族与汉字文化圈诸国的传统文化节日，时在农历八月十五;因其恰值三秋之半，故名，也有些地方将中秋节定在八月十六。

　　中秋节的起源~

　　Mid-Autumn Festival has a history of over 3,000 years, dating back to moon worship in the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). It’s such an important festival that many poems were written about it, stories and legends about the festival are widespread, and its origins have been guessed at and explained by generations of Chinese.

　　中秋节有三千多年历史，可以追溯到商代时对月亮的崇拜。因为中秋节的重要地位，历代诗人都会为中秋节写诗，关于中秋节的故事、传奇在民间广为流传，中秋节的起源也被历代中国人探究。

　　The term "Mid-Autumn" first appeared in the book Rites of Zhou (周礼), written in the Warring States Period (475–221 BC). But the term>“中秋”一词最早出现在战国时期《周礼》一书中，但是该词只和时间和季节有关，当时还没有中秋节。

　　In the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), it was popular to appreciate the moon. Many poets liked to create poems related to the moon when appreciating it. There is a legend that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty visited the Moon Palace in his dream and heard a wonderful song.

　　唐代时赏月风靡，诗人在赏月之时佳作连连。据传，唐玄宗曾在梦中去往月宫并听到优美的歌声。

　　In the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 AD), the 15th day of the 8th lunar month was established as the "Mid-Autumn Festival". From then>北宋时期，农历八月十五才被正式确立为中秋节，从那以后，为月亮献祭盛行，从那以后便成为风俗。

　　中秋节习俗

　　赏月admire the full moon /watch the full moon to celebrate the festival

　　碧空如洗，圆月如盘。人们在尽情赏月之际，会情不自禁地想念远游在外、客居异乡的亲人。中国人历来把家人团圆、亲友团聚，共享天伦之乐看得极其珍贵，历来有“花好月圆人团聚”之谓。

　　点灯笼light lanterns

　　中秋之夜，天清如水，月明如镜，可谓良辰之美景，然而对此人们并未满足，于是便有燃灯以助月色的风俗。

　　玩花灯play with lanterns / scaldfish

　　中秋玩花灯主要只是在家庭、儿童之间进行的，多集中在南方。

　　祭月offering sacrifice to the moon

　　中秋祭月仪式是一种古老的祭祀礼仪，表达人们祈求月神降福人间的一种美好心愿。

　　中秋月饼

　　Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese festival. It is>中秋节 是中国的传统节日，时间是中国农历八月十五。

　　On that night, families eat moon cakes and enjoy the glorious full moon; the moon cake is round and looks like the full moon.

　　那天晚上，家家户户都边吃月饼 边赏月，当天是圆月，月饼便做成圆的，看上去像满月。

　　As for mooncakes, everyone has their own favorites. And we've already stuffed our faces with plenty kinds of mooncakes by the time the festivities arrive.

　　对于月饼，每个人都有自己的喜好，并且在庆祝活动到来的时候，我们已经享尽了 各种各样的月饼。

　　月饼种类：

　　传统月饼：(Traditional styles)

　　广式月饼：(Cantonese-style mooncake)

　　苏式月饼：(Suzhou-style mooncake)

　　京式月饼：(Beijing-style mooncake)

　　滇式月饼：(Yunnan-style mooncake)

　　创新月饼：(Contemporary Styles)

　　低糖月饼：(low-sugar mooncake)

　　无脂月饼：(fat-free mooncake)

　　冰皮月饼：(snow skin mooncake)

　　水果月饼：(fruits mooncake)