Mid-Autumn Festival 2024
Did you know, the Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: 中秋節 / 中秋节) is the second most important traditional festival in Chinese culture after Lunar New Year?
Also called the Moon or Mooncake Festival, is a time to celebrate the moon, giving thanks to harvest and encouraging the harvest-giving light to return in the next year.
In more modern times, most people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival as a time for family reunions, coming together to pray for good health and happiness.
While the holiday itself has a history of over 3,000 years, it is comparable to Thanksgiving in the U.S. In China and other Asian countries, it is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of every year.
This year, it will be celebrated on September 17th, when the moon is believed to be at its brightest and fullest, coinciding with prime harvesting time in the middle of the Autumn season.
In anticipation of the Moon Festival this year we have collaborated with Ophelia Jacarini, a French-born visual artist based in Hong Kong, to create a new rendition of our emblematic gift box.
Inspired by the Moon Festival night sky, our Amethyst Moon Gift Box highlights Hong Kong icons like the Star Ferry, the "Ding-Ding" and iconic city skyscrapers.
The Amethyst Moon Gift Box features 14 chocolates with two new limited edition recipes; perfect for sharing under the moonlit night.
NEW EXCLUSIVE RECIPES:
Lustrous Luna
Hazelnut praliné, whipped with slivers of crispy crepe enrobed in dark chocolate.
Silvery Stargaze
Dark chocolate ganache with intense pomegranate puree and sweet Acacia honey.
SIGNATURE RECIPES:
Praliné Noisette
Almond hazelnut praliné with slivers of hazelnuts from Piedmont.
Caracas
Robust dark chocolate ganache
Do you know the folktale about Chang'e? In Chinese folklore, the Mooncake Festival is warmly believed to honor the moon deity, Chang'e (嫦娥).
Long ago, ten suns rose and scorched the Earth. Hou Yi (后羿), a skilled archer, shot nine suns out of the sky leaving only one for sunlight. Hou Yi was rewarded by the gods for his efforts with an exlir of life.
Out of devotion for his wife, Chang'e, he refused to become immortal. He instead entrusted the potion to Chang'e for safe keeping.
In a quick effort to avoid a theft on the elixir, Chang'e drank the elixir herself and began to float into the sky. To remain close to her still mortal husband, Chang'e chose to reside in a palace on the moon.
Heartbroken, Hou Yi began to offer Chang'e's favorite cakes to the moon. Thus, starting the traditions of the Mooncake Festival.
Yu Tu (玉兔) the Jade Rabbit, accompanies Chang'e in the moon palace. The Jade Rabbit is often seen grinding elixirs for the gods or making mooncakes.
Are you ready to join in the celebration? To do so, you can gather for dinners, take time thanking the moon for what it provides, light some paper lanterns, and eat mooncakes.
Come together with family and friends under the moon with our new limited-edition Amethyst Moon collection.
Cheers to a fruitful Mid-Autumn Festival!