As time goes by, some old customs at Mid-autumn Festival have gradually been buried. Do you still remember how those old Mid-autumn Festival look like?

 "竖中秋（树中秋）" 
“Standing” Mid-autumn Festival

佛山老友记还记得什么是“竖中秋”吗？以往，家家户户中秋夜都会在门口、花园、天台处拿两枝竖着的竹竿和一枝横着的竹竿搭成架子竖起纸灯笼，摆开茶果，一家人聚食行乐。
Do you still remember what is “Standing Mid-autumn Festival”? In the past, every family will make two vertical bamboo poles and one horizontal bamboo pole into a shelf and set up paper lanterns in the doorway, garden and rooftop, and the whole family will gather together to enjoy the tea and fruits.

在佛山，因为灯笼是传统工艺，明代起已经开始扎灯笼，中秋夜竖灯笼是一种民间习俗。小孩会挑着灯笼到街坊家串门，看谁家灯笼最漂亮。
Lantern is a traditional craft in Foshan since the Ming Dynasty. And setting up the paper lanterns during the Mid-autumn Festival is a folk custom. Children will pick a lantern dropping around their neighbors to see whose lantern is the most beautiful.

 "猪笼饼送小孩" 
Pig cake for kids

小时候的中秋节，给长辈送的是月饼，给小孩送的是“猪笼饼”，即一个巴掌大的小猪笼里面，装着一只小猪造型的饼。
Mooncake was generally for the elders and pig cake was generally for kids in the past. Pig cake, just as its name implies, is a kind of piggy-shaped cake put in a small cage.

“猪笼饼”的小猪造型憨态可掬，惟妙惟肖的，小孩总是舍不得吃，但又忍不住时不时瞧一瞧、舔一舔，等到不得不吃的时候，那味道又是难以忘怀：酥酥软软的饼身夹着微甜软糯的莲蓉，余味回香淡雅。

The pig cake shows a charmingly naive and vivid appearance.Kids are reluctant to bite it, but they still can’t help to taking a look and licking on it. When it has to be eaten, the taste will be unforgettable: crisp soft cake body with sweet and soft lotus paste will leave you a fragrant after-taste.

时至今日，“猪笼饼”对于街坊们来说，买的是对过往生活的怀恋。
Nowadays, buying pig cakes is a kind of nostalgia for local residents.

 "舞火龙" 
Fiery Dragon Dancing

在佛山禅城的南庄镇，中秋有舞火龙的习俗，寓意年年都好，身体健康，至今已经流传了上百年。村民将近百米的龙身，高高举起，几个年轻力壮的男子舞起龙尾，翻腾起舞，场面异常热闹。
In Nanzhuang Chancheng, there is a hundred-year-old custom of Fiery Dragon Dancing which indicates a propitious year and good health. Villagers lift the fiery dragons of nearly one hundred meters high up in the sky, and several young and strong men will wave the dragon tails to make it dance in the air. It will be quite boisterous on the spot.

当地的老人说，舞火龙可祈福、辟邪、求安康。
The local elderly said that Fiery Dancing Dragon is to pray for the well-being and good health.

 “ 烧番塔 ”
 Burning Tower

“烧番塔”一词，相信南海、三水的街坊们都不陌生吧？番塔一般用砖头或瓦片砌成，越往上塔身越小，最后封顶，下面留有几个口，用来塞木柴、稻草烧塔。据说，“番塔”火苗高升就代表吉祥，越高越好。
Maybe the word “Burning Tower”is not new to people in Nanhai or Sanshui. The tower is usually made by bricks and tiles with several holes at the bottom to fill the firewood and straw. The higher the tower is, the smaller will its body be. It’s believed that the rising flame represents a kind of luck, the higher the better.

传说烧番塔是为了纪念清代抗法名将刘永福的英勇战斗。如今则是为了祈求来年丰收。
There is a legend that the “Burning Tower” during the Mid-autumn Festival is to memorize the heroic fight by Liu Yongfu during the resistance against France in Qing Dynasty. Nowadays, the “Burning Tower” is a way for people to pray for good harvest.

 "做柚子皮灯笼" 
Lantern made from grapefruit

中秋佳节，相信大家都喜欢吃柚子。其实柚子皮也是大有用处的。有心灵手巧的老佛山人会把中秋宴上吃剩的柚子皮做成一个柚子灯笼：剥出一个完整的柚子皮，再用小刀在柚子皮上划出几个小窗，把一支小蜡烛放在里面，用铜线把柚子穿起来，往棍子上一绑，就成了!
It’s believed that people like to eat grapefruit at Mid-autumn Festival. Actually grapefruit peel is of great use. Some intelligent old Foshan people will make the leftover grapefruit peel into a lantern: Peel off a complete grapefruit peel, make a few holes on its surface, put a small candle inside and use a copper line to string it up on a rod, finally it will become a lantern!

 "吮田螺" 
Eating snails

中秋节吮田螺仿似成了当晚必备节目：一家人或一群老友围坐一起，吮田螺赏月，秋风送爽，怎一个爽字了得？
Eating snails has already become an essential part during the Mid-autumn Festival. The whole family or a group of friends sit together eating snails and enjoying the full moon. How enjoyable it is!

螺是佛山人过中秋节必不可少的一道美味。现在大家都说中秋吃田螺，其实过去吃得更多的是石螺，因为石螺便宜。佛山人一般会提前3天就买好一大堆石螺，然后用井水浸泡起来，让石螺把泥沙吐净，待到中秋节当晚把它做成美味。
Snail is an essential delicacy for Foshan locals during the Mid-autumn Festival. Nowadays people would say that they eat field snails during the Mid-autumn Festival, but actually people usually ate eat small land snails in the past because they are relatively cheaper. Usually Foshan locals will buy the small field snail 3 days in advance and put them into the water to filter the silt, and then people will make them into a delicious dish at the Mid-autumn Festival.

 "拗菱角、剥芋头" 
Eating water chestnut and taro

佛山人认为，中秋给小孩吃菱角就寄托着大人们希望他们“聪明伶俐”的祝福，菱角可以去壳后切成粒状煲粥，赏月吃过月饼之后食用，可减少油腻感。
Foshan people think that kids’ eating water chestnut at Mid-autumn Festival is entrusted with a blessing of being clever. Water chestnut can be made into porridge after they are peeled and cut into granular. Eating water chestnut can reduce the greasy feeling after having mooncakes.

佛山人在中秋节还有吃芋头的传统。　中秋食芋头，寓意辟邪消灾。芋头有大有小，大的叫“芋头乸”，小的叫“芋头仔”，中秋两种芋头一起吃。寓意“仔乸团聚”（母子团聚）。
There is also another custom that people will eat taro during the Mid-autumn Festival. Eating taro implies removing evil spirits. There are different sizes for taro, the big ones are called “taro mother” and the small ones are called “taro son”. Eating them together indicates a “mother and son reunion”.

看完这些，是不是觉得传统的中秋节
才是最有味的中秋节呢？
所以，这个中秋，你打算怎么过？

 After reading these, don’t you think the traditional Mid-autumn Festival is the most interesting? So, What are you going to do during this Mid-autumn Festival?