Yingxian Wooden Pagoda,Shanxi, China

This month marks a double celebration for us here at Yocha: Kulturnatten and the Mid-Autumn Festival decided to coincide on the 10th of September - and the result was, well, quite a party!

For those unaware, Kulturnatten, or Culture Night, is an annual day-long celebration of all things cultural held in various Swedish cities. And the one that takes place in Uppsala is the biggest and best in the country! As a business dedicated to raising awareness of different cultures, everyone at Yocha Studio was more than happy to play their part in demonstrating a little ‘authentic Asian culture’.  Traditional Chinese music played on the gu zheng, staff dressed in traditional Chinese and Japanese clothing, demonstrations of the art of Kung Fu Tea - along with a seemingly unending supply of mooncakes and other delicious Asian snacks - brought in so many curious visitors that the queue often stretched out the door! Our apologies to those who had to wait - but we’re sure it was worth it!

Moon night of Hangzhou, China

This year, by a particularly happy coincidence, Uppsala’s night of cultural diversity coincided with one of the most important Asian holidays of the year – the Mid-Autumn Festival. Held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, this is probably the biggest holiday in Chinese culture after the Chinese New Year. And not only in China - similar festivities take place in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other southeast Asian countries.

So, what’s it all about?

The Mid-Autumn Festival has existed for well over three thousand years and is closely tied to celebrating the autumn harvest. It takes place on the night of what’s traditionally thought to be the fullest moon of the year. In the past families would gather together (the full, round moon symbolizes the completeness and unity of the family), give thanks for the harvest and what they had received during the year - and maybe hope or pray for something they didn’t have yet! And not a lot has changed in three thousand years!

There are several traditions linked to the Mid-Autumn Festival - and lots of variations depending on where it is being celebrated of course: lanterns are lit, jade rabbits are displayed, in Japan sake is drunk under the full moon. But probably the best known tradition, certainly in China, is the making and eating of traditional mooncakes – just like the homemade ones you can enjoy anytime at Yocha Studio!.

YOCHA Mooncake & Tea

And there was certainly no shortage of mooncakes at Yocha this festival Saturday… we served literallyhundreds of our unique Yocha mooncakes of various types over the course of a very long day! In addition to that, customers enjoyed the virtuoso performance of Jiajia on the ancient Chinese instrument, the gu zheng, while they queued. And of course our Swedish tea expert, Jakob, gave fascinating demonstrations of how to serve and appreciate good tea in the authentic Kung Fu style.

Guzheng played by Jiajia

All in all, in the very best spirit of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and Kulturnatten, here at Yocha we gathered together with our extended, multicultural family of guests old and new; gave thanks for the fun and excitement we’ve had over the past six months; and maybe asked the moon goddess to let us enjoy the next six months just as much! What better way than that to celebrate a night of culture meeting an ancient festival?

Brooch丨Whales of Sun and Moon

As usual, if you didn’t manage to make it to our physical tea shop here on Kunsängsgatan to celebrate September, why not make a virtual visit to our online store at  www.yochastudio.com and see what’s new and worth celebrating this autumn!

Till next month, remember – stay round!

The Yocha Team.