The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has celebrated the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival with a Facebook post highlighting traditional festive food. Monday's post is signed by AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk, and comes a day before the festival begins on September 21.
The celebratory Facebook post features photos of staff members eating mooncakes, a food traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Oudkirk says that AIT cherishes opportunities to enjoy local Taiwanese traditions. She says mooncakes can even represent cooperation between Taiwan and the US with the use of some American ingredients like wheat flour and tree nuts.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is one of the most important holidays in Taiwanese culture. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, when the moon is full. The festival originally marked the end of the harvest, but today it is an opportunity to reunite with friends and family.
Oudkirk says the festival should remind the United States and Taiwan how much they have in common. She says the two countries share not only the same beautiful moon, but also love for each other's culture.