The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth
day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox(秋分).
Many refer it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". This day ___1____
is also considered a harvest festival because that fruits, vegetables and ___2____
grain have been harvested by this time and food is unabundant. With ___3____
delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it is a time for relax ___4___
and celebration. Together with the celebration there appears some ___5___
special customs in different parts. However, the custom of playing under
the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, and it is not less ___6___
popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in,
people will look up at the full silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate
their happy life or thinking of their relative and friends far from home. ____7___
The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and
one and a half inches in thickness, resembles Western fruitcakes in taste ____8____
and consistency. But nowadays, there are hundreds varieties of moon cakes __9___
on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival. For generations, moon
cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans,
lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates(枣子), wrapped in a pastry.
Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting
dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes ___10___
are served in the English holiday seasons.