It’s time to celebrate the annual Mid-Autumn Festival, a celebration of the moon and its goddess, on the day when the moon is at its brightest and fullest.

Even if you are far away from home and your loved ones, you can celebrate the day with traditional Chinese moon cakes! It’s also the perfect time to introduce your friends and roommates to this traditional Chinese festival – you can even teach them to make mooncakes.

But first, you need to tell your roommates and friends about the festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient holiday in China celebrating the end of the autumn harvest – this celebration of the moon and the harvest can be traced back to the Shang dynasty. Moon worship, moon cakes and Osmanthus wine are all traditional ways to celebrate which have been passed down from generation to generation. You may have some precious family traditions you can share with your friends.

Most of us celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with our loved ones; returning to our hometowns, we meet up with family and friends to watch the moon and eat mooncakes together. It’s a festival for friendship and loved ones, to remember where you came from and to wish each other happiness.

Now that you’ve shared the history of the festival with your roommates, it’s time to learn how to make mooncakes!

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Mooncake Recipe:

Today, we’re sharing a simple and easy recipe for traditional red bean paste moon cakes.

You’ll need:

• 300g flour
• 225g syrup
• 75g vegetable oil
• 400g red bean paste
• 4ml soda water
• 1 egg yolk
• You will also need a mooncake mould!

Here’s how you do it:

• Get your ingredients ready – we like to measure them out before we get going.
• Step 1: Combine the syrup, vegetable oil, and stir together and mix well
• Step 2: Sift in the flour
• Step 3: Stir to combine and work it into a dough, place the dough in the refrigerator for one hour
• Step 4: After one hour, divide the dough and red bean paste filling into equal parts. The filling ratio is 1:1, one moon cake is approx. 50g
• Step 5: Pack the filling into the dough
• Step 6: Sprinkle a thin layer of flour on your moon cakes to prevent the dough from sticking, and press the dough into the mould
• Step 7: Before putting it in the oven, spray a little water on the surface of your mooncakes, before placing them in the oven at 180 degrees and bake them for 5 minutes
• Step 8: Take your mooncakes out and brush them with a thin layer of egg yolk, before returning them to the oven to bake for 15 minutes

Remember:

1. The dough is easier to work with after it’s been chilled
2. Be careful not to use too much egg yolk, as it could blur the mooncake pattern

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独在异乡为异客, 每逢佳节倍思亲
Being a stranger alone in a foreign land, I miss family every festive season – (Quote from a Chinese poem）

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It may not be the same as celebrating the festival in China with your family, but we hope you have a great day and get to speak to your family back home.
Studying abroad is a special time, so make the most of it – make new friends and celebrate special moments with them. There will be many Mid-Autumn Festivals at home to look forward to!
Have a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

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中秋节快乐

海上生明月，天涯共此时，一年一次的中秋佳节今晚上演，在这个特殊的时期，已有多少海外学子没有回家团聚？在这个中国传统节日里，身在海外的我们，当然也要遵守中国的传统习俗—吃月饼。
不管你是住在学生公寓，还是在外租房，身边应该都会有一些国际室友，这一天，是给室友们介绍我们的传统佳节、分享月饼、拉近关系的好时机。

中秋节自古便有祭月、赏月、拜月、吃月饼、赏桂花、饮桂花酒、等习俗，流传至今，经久不息。
中秋节以月之圆兆人之团圆，为寄托思念故乡，思念亲人之情，祈盼丰收、幸福，成为丰富多彩、弥足珍贵的文化遗产。
与室友们分享了中秋节的小知识后，就一起学做月饼吧!

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我们今天给大家分享了一份简单的、易操作的传统豆沙月饼食谱，如果你想亲手体验与室友一起做月饼的快乐，那就开始动手尝试吧：

需要的食材有:

• 面粉300克
• 糖浆225g
• 玉米油75g
• 豆沙馅400g
• 枧水（没有枧水可用苏打水代替）4ml
• 蛋黄1个

步骤：

• 第一步：准备好以上食材
• 第二步：将糖浆、玉米油、枧水放在一起，搅拌均匀
• 第三步：筛入面粉
• 第四步：用刮刀搅拌均匀，和成面团，然后将面团放入冰箱冷藏一小时
• 第五步：取出后，将面团和馅料等份均分（馅皮比例是1:1，一个月饼50g）
• 第六步：将馅料包入面团中
• 第七步：表面撒上一层面粉防粘，并放入模具按压成月饼胚
• 第八步：放入烤箱前，在月饼胚上喷少许水，然后放入180度烤箱烤5分钟定型
• 第九步：取出，刷上蛋液，再次送入烤箱，烤15分钟即可

注意事项：

1. 和好的面团放冷藏后，比较好操作
2. 定型后刷的是蛋黄液，不要刷太多，会糊住花纹，影响美观

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独在异乡为异客, 每逢佳节倍思亲
Being a stranger alone in a foreign land, I miss family every festive season – (Quote from a Chinese poem）

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多少人陪伴，始终不及家人左右，月圆了，记得与国内视频通话，告诉家人你的近况。
留学不是长久的，分别也是短暂的，在这个特殊的时期，大家守望相助，等一切过去，还有许多个中秋可以和最爱的人一起度过，所以，请期待那天的到来！
Host学生公寓祝大家中秋快乐！

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