Where Have All The Lanterns Gone?

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival my dear friends!

I was having breakfast this morning when it suddenly dawned on me that I haven’t been seeing any shops selling lanterns. Only mooncakes were displayed abundantly everywhere. So, where have all the lanterns gone?

I miss those lanterns of yore sorely. Coming in various designs - chicken, rabbit, dog - these lanterns made of colourful translucent papers were hanging proudly in the shops, blatantly wooing children like myself to pester our parents for some money to buy them home.

Then, we would wait impatiently for the day to arrive, I mean night, so that all the children would rush out from their homes and show off their lanterns, brightly lit with candles! Yes, it was after some time that battery operated lanterns came into the market. However, those lanterns did not charm us one bit. Rather, the good ole’ fashion of candle-lit ones made our adrenaline rush to the fore.

Holding these lanterns in our hands, we were all reminded - for the 1001 time by our parents and grandparents - to watch out for the fire. Hence, everyone was extremely careful not to swing the lanterns too much and not to run. Now come to think of it, what is so fun and exciting about merely walking around holding a potential fire hazard, albeit beautiful, cute and interesting? It just was fun.

The candle flames made our faces blush and we all look pretty and handsome under the flattering light. The smiles on our faces further lit us up in glowing radiance. The jolly atmosphere enveloped everyone under the beautiful round moon dancing happily in the sky.

Mooncakes were shared among neighbours and everyone chatted and laughed until the night was no longer young. Then, very reluctantly, we blew off our candles and retired our lanterns for the year. And once again, we began to wait for next year to come when we could bring these animals out again into the glory.

Hmm ... those were the days of how we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival when I was a child. It was a day where people build relationships and strengthened their bonds with each other.

How do you celebrate yours? 

So sad, no moon to be seen this Mid-Autumn night. I wan Gahmen to declare 2 public holidays for Mooncake Day and Bak-zhang Day.

I'm missing the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations back home as I'm in the United States. I never really liked to eat the mooncakes but I loved to eat the cute "piglet in the basket". I remember keeping the baskets which had bright plastic flowers as momentos. The piglet snack tasted great too, even though the ingredients were the same as the traditional mooncake. :)

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