Mid-Autumn Festival Special

Since its beginning in the Asian scheme of all things heavenly, the Mid-Autumn Festival's focus is on the shining harvest moon, which has nothing whatever to do with the popular American song, Shine On, Shine On, Harvest Moon, the lament of a guy who's had no lovin' for a few months.

The mid-autumn celebration falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, precisely the middle of the autumn season (the seventh, eighth and ninth lunar months), or, in the Gregorian calendar, sometime around mid-September when the moon is full and in most cultures called the Harvest Moon, though again not because of the song...

At base, the festival represents the time originally set aside in a busy agricultural year to enjoy the successful reaping of rice and wheat, and for women to make offerings of melons, round cakes and pomegranates in honor of the moon. At this time, the moon's orbit is at its lowest angle to the horizon, making it appear larger and brighter than at any other time of the year.

In Chinese mythology, the moon is the dwelling place of the immortals, and all the myths associated with earth's closest planetary neighbor relate to longevity. On the eve of the Moon Festival, storytellers thrill youngsters with tales of the Moon Palace and its inhabitants.

China's Mid-Autumn Festival was originally an outdoor event. The heavy labors of farming completed, people would plan a leisurely day of thanksgiving and pleasure, hiking and picnicking in the valleys and mountains. Today, it is still an occasion for some outdoor reunions where friends and relatives gather to eat "moon cakes" and watch the dead planet's shape forming the ideal symbol of familial harmony and unity.

Chinese restaurants which, among others, offer special Mid-Autumn dinner can be found at Beijing's Great Wall Sheraton and Kunlun hotels:

Jin Yuan Chinese Restaurant

A visit to Jin Yuan Chinese Restaurant is to all intents and purposes a culinary walk through the Qing Dynasty and the palace decorations that reflected the period. Thus it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that newcomers to Jin Yuan would be so overwhelmed by their surroundings and milieu that any thoughts of dining would immediately take a back seat.

Still agog, no doubt, the new guests would be equally enamored of the white marble baluster, typical Chinese long corridor and the traditional paintings. On the stage, Beijing musicians are performing Peking Opera. So yes, said restaurant is beautiful, which is why it attracts more and more locals as well as foreigners.

21st Floor Restaurant

Bearing the name of the floor on which it is located, the newly opened 21st Floor Restaurant at the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel is planned to maintain the high standards of its predecessor, the Yuen Tai, while taking Chinese regional cuisine into a new phase which combines Cantonese and Sichuan dishes.

The restaurant offers a delightful setting and ambience, by its nature providing a colorful and memorable dining experience. Paintings of Old Beijing, "poetry-tables", unique tableware and ethnic music combine to add to the overall elegance of the spacious, circular restaurant.

The menu here are at base a highly creative mix of Cantonese and Sichuan dishes, the highlights of which - created by master chef Tian Qiuming - include Eggplant in Sweet Bean Sauce; Shredded Chicken Marinated with Sichuan Spices; and Sauteed Diced Chicken in Dry Red Chilli.

Chinese Stick With Lucky 13

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the traditional and distinc-tive offering of the feast is the square or circular moon cake (yuebing), made of flaked pastry and packed with a sweet filling made up of various ingredients. Some imperial chefs produced cakes up to several feet in diameter, decorated with Chang-E designs (the moon place), or carvings of cassia trees. Fillings can include melon seeds, orange peel, cassia blooms, walnuts, date paste, and mashed beans. Cantonese-style cakes often contain egg yolk, lotus seed paste and coconut.

Standard-size cakes are only a few centimeters in diameter. Commercial outlets sometimes display them piled high to resemble a pagoda. Usually there are 13 cakes per serving, this figure deemed unlucky in the west being the number of months in a full lunar year. The fillings include melon seeds, orange peel, cassia bloom, walnut, date paste, and smashed bean.

Every Beijing hotel's Chinese kitchen produces its own moon cakes for the festival, fillings being of high quality. The cakes go on sale to the public in special gift boxes.

Listed is a cross-section of hotels currently promoting their moon cakes.

Grand Hyatt Hotel Beijing

oon cakes at this hotel are said to be made from traditional recipes that have been redefined, with original flavors and healthier ingredients. Their casings are baked to a warm gold color, while the fillings are smooth and aromatic. The cakes are presented in elegant redwood boxes whose artwork of imperial maidens is in traditional Tang Dynasty style.

Shangri-La Hotel Beijing

he hotel's Shang Palace Restaurant is offering new-style high-quality moon cakes with high-quality ingredients and new flavors, along with copies of their actual traditional and modern recipes. The ingredients of Fragrant Skin moon cakes include pandang leaves; fresh water chestnut and sweet corn. Also offered is a savory seafood version.

Tianlun Dynasty Hotel

his hotel is offering a good selection of freshly baked moon cakes, including a western-style version to accommodate foreign tourists and local expatriates. The fillings, however, are traditional Chinese, with all the flavors associated with moon cakes lotus seed, for example.