The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the China's major four traditional festivals. It is celebrated annually on the 15th  day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept 17th this year. In olden days, Mid-Autumn Festival was associated with agriculture, which was required to hold ritual activities in groups to worship ancestors, pray for good fortune and celebrate the harvest. But now, it is mostly regarded as a joyous time when families come together, appreciate the full moon and share moon cakes.

This time, in order to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in an innovative way, Shilin Global Geopark intended to carry out several activities to showcase strong ethnic customs and prominent local characteristics of Sani people which is a branch of Yi nationality. From September 15th to 17th , Mid-Autumn Festival performance has been held twice a day at Sun and Moon square under the theme “a full-moon in Shilin offers a trip to Yi’s hometown”.During the performance, there were some singing and dancing programs such as “Welcome to Shilin”, “Chinese Moon”, “The Hometown of Moon”.

After that, we held the sacrificial ceremony that was presided over by Bimo who is the most respectable person among Sani people. Through this traditional ritual, Bimo would pay tribute to their ancestry and the enduring values of unity, justice and bravery. He also gave the blessing words to local residents and all the visitors in Shilin.

At the end of the ceremony, there was an interactive activity in which we organized several games, for instance, we invited visitors to try our famous folk musical instrument “Dasanxian”, dance with Sani people and recite poems about Mid-Autumn Festival. We also gave away lots of sachets and traditional moon cakes made by local people of Yi nationality.

“We wish each other a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though miles apart.” All the Shilin Geopark staff wish visitors from all over the world would enjoy happiness and health forever.