And I like this :)
(The light under the bridge was due to tens of burning candles lit by people on the other side of bridge)
Used to walk around the playground downstairs with big lanterns made from colourful cellophane paper when I was a kid. Then those wired frames were replaced by fold-flat paper lanterns, which were in turn usurped by those noisy electric ones with bulbs and irritating midis of the most popular songs. Ok they weren't irritating back then.
Some time in late primary, lanterns were carried by the parents while the kids played with bare candles, lighting them everywhere and watching them burn. I've been through all this and now realised the best fun is really to carry the paper lanterns around :) As this teacher at a temple once commented, "it's only fun when the lanterns *oops* accidentally BURN!"
Oh, story.. There used to be nine suns and one day all nine decided to come out to play at the same time so everything was scorched and dying until this guy Hou Yi shot down eight. He was made the Emperor but he became such a tyrant that his wife Chang E, in an attempt to save the world, downed his immortality potion on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. She floated to you-know-where.. But that's only the moon story. (Don't know much of all the extras about this woodcutter on the moon and a rabbit..)
Cake story now.. Years on, during some revolt (by good people against bad government of course), revolutionaries hid notes of instructions in cakes so that authorities would not find out when they send the notes vis cakes to the different provinces to stage the uprising. Think they succeeded on the lunar 15 Aug so people started having mooncakes during this time every year..
Gee, I sure suck as a historian! Well, too bad I don't have time *excuse* :p Have accumulated entries in my head, hope have some time this weekend!
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