Fond Memories

Most of us know the Mid-Autumn season as a time to share moon cakes with family, fight over the yolks, or just an excuse to get together and spend time with the extended family.

However, when we were children, the annual Mid-Autumn Festival was the time to parade with our paper lanterns (fortunate children acquired plastic ones that played songs!) and stick candles all over. Not to mention the sparklers!

 
Although the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival fall at about the same time, these two are not to be confused. The Lantern Festival, also known as ‘Yuan Xiao Jie’ in Mandarin, is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the Chinese calendar. It is also the first time to see a full moon in that year, therefore the practice of admiring the moon (‘Shang Yue’).

According to Chinese tradition, when the moon is full and bright, there should be many colourful lanterns hung outside to be appreciated. The Lantern Festival is also regarded as the Chinese version of St. Valentine’s Day.

in2it.sg has an especially fond place in our heart for this delightful memory. Thus, we decided to take a little trip down memory lane to the Chinese Garden on the night of the full moon to see what was so happening over there!

This year, the Chinese Garden was fully decked with the theme ‘The World of Legends’, a large scale display of lanterns and props!

 
 
Along with the display of lanterns, there were also wonderful little activities to participate in, such as carnival games and Kids Fun Land!

If you feel that you need to get back to your Chinese roots, this is definitely the place to visit. We definitely learned a lot about the history of our culture and of the Lantern Festival!

For those of you who missed this delightful event, it is still on at the Chinese Garden until 18 September 2011! Entry is $12 for adults and $8 for children.