(11 Sep 2011)
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide of people in park with colourful lanterns on display
2. Mid shot man walking past colourful lanterns
3. Lantern reflecting in the water, tilt up to lanterns
4. Close-up female figure moving on lantern shaped like moon - the woman is the legendary figure Chang E who lives on the moon
5. Mid shot of Chang E figure
6. Mid shot moon in sky, lightly covered in clouds
7. Wide pan shot from crowd of people gathered at colourful lantern
8. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Yang Jian, Lantern Festival visitor:
"The Mid-Autumn Festival is mostly about gathering together as family and friends. Together we can be festive and look up at the moon, and today we are here to see this lantern festival which is a tradition. I think it is catching on with ordinary people."
9. Close-up woman taking photo
10. Close-up lantern shaped like dragon head
11. Close-up lantern shaped like Phoenix
12. Wide shot colourful lanterns on water
13. Mid shot mother and child looking at lanterns
14. Mid shot lanterns shaped like fish
15. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Yun, Lantern Festival visitor:
"I don''t really make any wishes or anything. I just hope everyone will enjoy a happy holiday together."
16. Close-up lantern shaped like a chicken
17. Wide shot colourful lanterns shaped like Chinese zodiac animals
18. Wide shot people looking at the lanterns
19. Mid shot of mother taking photo of daughter
20. Wide shot another woman taking photo of daughter
STORYLINE:
The Chinese, along with many others in far eastern countries, are celebrating their traditional Mid-Autumn Festival.
Also called the Moon Festival, the holiday is celebrated much like Thanksgiving is in the United States.
This year September 12th is the 15th day of the 8th month, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, and it''s also the full moon.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is associated with the legend of Houyi and his wife Chang E, the Moon Goddess of Immortality who lives on the moon.
The days around the full moon are set for families and friends to get together - traditionally to celebrate the harvest.
It is an important day for all family members to gather together.
Yang Jian, in Longtan Park where the lanterns were set up, said: "The Mid-Autumn Festival is mostly about gathering together as family and friends. Together we can be festive and look up at the moon, and today we are here to see this lantern festival - which is a tradition. I think it is catching on with ordinary people."
The Moon Festival became a holiday observed in large parts of China about 1,000 years ago, according to folklore experts, but it has remained largely a family holiday - a time to eat and drink and look at the moon together.
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