Mooncakes are round pastries, about the size of a tennis ball, with a dense sweet filling inside. Traditional fillings include lotus seed paste or red bean paste, often with a salted egg yolk in the middle that looks like the golden moon. Today there are also modern mooncakes filled with chocolate, ice cream and all sorts of flavours.
Lanterns come in every shape and size - some look like rabbits, some like fish, some like stars. Children carry them through parks and along the waterfront on the night of the festival. In Victoria Park in Hong Kong, thousands of lanterns are displayed together, and it is an incredible sight.
The festival has an old legend attached to it. The story goes that long ago, a woman called Chang'e drank a special drink and floated up to the moon, where she has lived ever since, together with a jade rabbit. That is why the rabbit is the festival's most loved symbol.
Hong Kong's Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations are famous for the lantern displays at Victoria Park, along the harbourfront and on many hills. Some people even carry spiral spiral-shaped fire lanterns on poles - these take enormous skill to make and spin safely.