One of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar is the Chinese Moon Festival. This event is celebrated every year on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month when the moon is at its fullest. Chinese families get together on this evening and eat the traditional mooncake which is made with a sweet bean or seed paste.
There are many variations to the legend of the Moon Festival. One common folk tale involves an archer Hou Yi and his wife Chang-E. According to the tale. the earth once had ten suns circling over it, each took its turn to light the earth. One day all ten suns appeared together, scorching the earth. . The Emperor of Heaven ordered tyrannical ruler archer Hou Yi to save the earth. Hou Yi succeeded in shooting down nine of the suns. One day, Hou Yi stole the elixir of life from a goddess. However his beautiful wife Chang Er drank the elixir of life in order to save the people from her husband's tyrannical rule. After drinking it, she found herself floating and flew to the moon. Hou Yi loved his divinely beautiful wife so much, he didn't shoot down the moon.

