Various places across China are staging full-featured activities to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, a cherished occasion for family reunions which falls on Sept 17 this year.
For the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival that started on Sunday, Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has made full use of its characteristics as a city of ice and snow.
The Harbin Ice-Snow World, a landmark outdoor ice and snow theme park, has set many large but exquisite ice sculptures in its ice and snow pavilion, which covers an area of 23,800 square meter, by using 20,000 cubic meters of natural ice.
Many intriguing designs, such as sculptures featuring Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, the pet of Lunar Goddess Chang'e in the Chinese mythology, sculptures in the shape of food and wild animals, frozen roses in ice cubes, as well as ice slides, have attracted flocks of visitors.
The iconic park also arranged firework and drone shows for visitors throughout the three-day holidays for visitors.
In Pingnan County of east China's Fujian Province, residents and intangible cultural heritage inheritors have celebrated the festival with an unique form of fireworks, known as the "fire phoenix", a traditional folk activity.
After the singing and dancing around the bonfire ended, the villagers put out the bonfire, broke the charcoal into chips with bamboo poles, and then put these still burning debris into a cage.
After the preparations were completed, the villagers lifted the fire basket with bamboo poles and swung it freely. As countless sparks splashed from the top of the fire basket, a vivid "fire phoenix" flew out, wowing every spectators.
"The "fire phoenix" symbolizes auspiciousness, harvest and unity," said Lan Changbo, inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage technique in Pingnan County.
"It's very fascinating. As an intangible cultural heritage project, I think it must be passed down and protected," said tourist Lyu Chenxing.
Featured activities held in China to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival
