Mid-Autumn festival fruit guide

This year’s Zhong Qiu Jie (中秋节), Mid-Autumn festival, is just around the corner, Oct 6th to be precise, and it is a time for Chinese learners around the world to take a break in their regular study routines and to enjoy some of the festivities. 

This is our annual reminder to all Chinese language learners that learning Chinese is also about gaining insights into Chinese cultural practices and about participating in the cultural activities. And you don’t have to be in China to enjoy Mid-Autumn festival.

Everyone knows that moon cakes are an important part of the festival. However, many people do not know that fruits, especially the fresh and seasonal ones, are also a delicious component that many Chinese people enjoy at this time. For this reason, I am going to introduce some must-have fruits. 

In the North where I grew up, Zhong Qiu Jie is the time for beautiful succulent fruits, like apples (苹果), pears (梨), and peaches (桃). There are also tasty grapes (葡萄), and persimmons (柿子). I love them all, and I have some fond memories of Mid-Autumn festival in the good old days. It is possible that these memories have been recreated many times for the better! I remember, the weather was cooling off. The summer heat was gone. After dinner, friends and families enjoyed each other’s company in the yard where the moon shone brightly above. People sampled two three kinds of moon cakes, some fresh seasonal fruits, and drank tea. Activities included reciting some poems about the moon and guessing word puzzles. 

In the South, there are some popular tropical fruits which I did not know when I was a child, such as star fruit (杨桃) and pomelo (柚子). For me, star fruit looks strange, and it can be sliced into a full plate of stars, which I always find amazing. When I first had pomelo, I thought this fruit was so well protected with a thick skin. Dragon fruit (火龙果) is so artistic looking. And Mango (芒果) is so tasty. All these fruits are popular during the Mid-Autumn festival. 

(dragon fruit)

There is another tropical fruit, durian (榴梿). I doubt that durian is a Mid-Autumn festival fruit. It inspires love and hate at the same time. With spiky thick protective armours and such a repellent smell, it can be crowned as the king of the most scary fruit of all. Different from fruits mentioned earlier, durian simply refuses to be eaten. It takes some courage for people who are new to this scary fruit to commence that first bite. Nevertheless, there are many people who are durian’s dedicated fans. After becoming widely available in China in late 2010s, durians are selling very well. Not for me. I summoned that courage and had a few bites once. And I promised myself that I would never eat it again.

Another thing worth mentioning is associated meanings of some fruits. This is something I learned in Hong Kong, that some fruits have auspicious meanings, for example, 梨 (pears) sounds similar to 利 (profits). 葡萄 (grapes) has 籽 (seeds), which sounds similar to 子 (son, children), therefore signifying more sons or children to families. It’s interesting to know, but I don’t really believe it because using homophonic sounds to explain Chinese can be dangerous. For example, 梨 (pears) has the same sound as 离 (to separate), which is not auspicious at all in Chinese culture. Also, 籽 (seeds) has the same sound as 滓 (dregs). It would be terrible if eating grapes leads to having dregs in one’s family. Who would ever want that! 

The reason why this is worth talking about is that, 1) it is interesting and new to many Chinese language learners; 2) many people take it to the extreme and try to find some “hidden” meanings in every fruit; 3) they expand the same logic to everything that is Chinese and come to some absurd conclusions.

Therefore, don’t get distracted by such associations. Simply enjoy these delicious seasonal fruits! And today, it is simpler than ever to do so. 

Most people can easily stop by a nearby grocery store and find all kinds of different fruits there. Online shopping is another option. Regional differences or seasonal difference are not so obvious as before. It is perhaps the best time for everyone to have a fruitful Mid-Autumn festival. 

中秋节快乐!