中秋節快樂！！ Where did MOON FESTIVAL come from?

Hello everybody! If you are new here, then welcome. If you are not new, then thanks for coming back. But whoever you are, to you all, let me say a huge happy Moon Festival! Yes, today is Moon Festival in Taiwan, which not only means that we get an extra day off work or school, but also we have an excuse to barbecue, eat meat, drink as much beer as we want and generally have fun while celebrating our celestial little brother, the moon! So yes, as I mentioned, Moon Festival in Taiwan is a time to eat and traditionally here in Taiwan, Taiwanese families will gather together and barbecue. A little bit different to our style of barbecue, usually it's over a small little barbecue, hunched on the ground, barbecuing small pieces of meat. And as well as the barbecue, plenty of beer, lots of whiskey will also be consumed. In fact, it's actually one of the times of year where some of the Taiwanese people that don't regularly drink will sit back, relax, enjoy a beer or two and generally soak up the atmosphere of the festival. But as this channel has always been somewhat of an amalgamation of my British Western culture and the Taiwanese culture here, rather than holding a traditional Taiwanese barbecue for you all to see, I've decided to travel out to my favorite watering hole, Three Giants Brewery in Fengyuan, where they're actually holding a South African style spit roast, the ultimate style of barbecue, and who doesn't love a spit roast, right? So dear oh dear, here I am, not at the barbecue, but actually back in school's office editing the video and I've just come to realize that I accidentally deleted a huge integral part of the story, which was me telling you the story of where Moon Festival came from. So rather than just miss it out, I've decided to come and tell you the story while I'm editing the video, because it's kind of important and I want the world to know where Moon Festival comes from. So Moon Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, or Zhongqiu Jie as it's known in Chinese, is celebrated every year on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, which happens to be today and means that the celebrations always take place under a full moon. Now what I found from my somewhat limited research online is that although there's always been some kind of celebration in the autumn full moon in Chinese culture ever since the Shang dynasty of 1600 BC, it wasn't until about 2000 years later in the year 600, around that time, when there was an emperor. Now the emperor's name was Xuanzong, I've probably got the pronunciation wrong, but he started Moon Festival after he went on a journey to the magical Moon Palace after taking some medicine that he believed would extend his life in some way. I'm pretty sure it wasn't medicine, probably some kind of hallucinogenic drugs, but anyway, after he visited this magical Moon Palace in a dream or whatever it was, he decided that the autumn full moon would always mark Moon Festival, where elaborate celebrations would always take place and worship the moon. But as well as that ancient fable, the moon also has many other meanings in Chinese and Taiwanese culture, such as the belief that the moon and the sun are a couple and the stars are their children, and when the moon is full, it means that she's pregnant, and when it's in crescent, that means that she's just given birth. I didn't say any of these beliefs actually made any sense, and I'm sure that not many people actually believe them so strictly these days, but I can tell you one taboo about the moon that some people still follow, which is you should never point your finger to the moon. If you do, the goddess of the moon, Chang'e, she will come down to earth and cut off your ear. Again, I didn't say that any of these beliefs or taboos made much sense, but as a guest here in this country, you won't find me pointing at the moon anytime soon. I like my ears just the way they are. Anyway, that's the story of where Moon Festival came from and why we celebrate it this time every year. Now, let's get back to the barbecue, back to the meat, and back to that beer. Okay, yes, lots going on inside. Barbecue, of course, as is necessary for a Moon Festival celebration, a little bit of beer, and lots of friends having fun celebrating the holiday. But as well as telling you the history of Moon Festival and that story earlier of how Moon Festival started, I thought it's important for me to share a very special Taiwanese Moon Festival custom with you. And luckily, I have found inside a box of moon cakes. Take a look at this. Yes, as a guy who isn't afraid of the occasional snack or three, moon cakes are a very slippery slope that I often fall down every year. Moon cakes are given to employees, friends, family, and the circular shape of a moon cake that I'll show you right now. Yes, that circle of the moon cake in Chinese culture represents completeness and unity. Thus, the sharing of moon cakes within a family or an organization represents a close feeling, a feeling of unity and togetherness that I would love to be sharing with my family right now. But as my family are either all 9,000 kilometers away in England or another 9,000 kilometers away in South Africa, it's up to me to eat this moon cake and probably several of these that I have down here all by myself until me and my family can be together again. Let's enjoy a moon cake. Happy Moon Festival, everybody. Absolutely delicious moon cake, a nice dry pastry on the outside and a nice moist fruity filling inside. Not too sure what it was, maybe a date or some other kind of fruit, but so good to try. Make sure if you ever come to Taiwan for Moon Festival, get yourself a moon cake. Now, for me, another beer. So, okay, so that brings my Moon Festival festivities to an end and all that's left for me to say is Happy Moon Festival to you all. Thanks so much for coming with me tonight. I had so much fun at Three Giants Brewery. It's always a fun night, always good drinking beer, of course. So, time for me to say goodbye. Just one more thing I want to add. If you're still here watching, don't forget to like and subscribe to the video if you haven't already. There is a huge challenge I'm planning. If I can get to 100,000 subscribers, share this video, like it, subscribe, tell your friends. We're going to have so much fun here in Taiwan. 100,000 subscribers is hopefully coming this year. If you're still watching, give me a plus 100k in the comment section below. I want to know who's on board, who's helping me get to 100,000 subscribers before 2018 is up. Anyway, guys, thanks so much for watching. Time for me to say goodbye now. I'll see you next time in my life in Taiwan. Peace!