The Mid-Autumn Festival

Trung Thu falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, in September or early October, at the full moon after the harvest, and it belongs to children. Star-shaped lanterns on bamboo frames, carp lanterns and paper masks are sold for weeks beforehand. Troupes of boys work the streets with a lion head, a drum and a grinning round-faced character who dances alongside them, collecting money from shopkeepers. Mooncakes are exchanged in stiff boxes: a baked pastry with a dense filling of lotus seed, mung bean or mixed nuts and salted egg yolk, and a soft white version made from glutinous rice flour. In Hanoi the whole trade concentrates on Hang Ma street.

What you actually see

• Star lanterns - bamboo frames covered in coloured cellophane, carried on sticks.
• Lion dancing - drum, cymbals and a lion head worked door to door for tips.
• Mooncakes - the baked and the sticky versions, cut into quarters and eaten with tea.
• Hang Ma street - Hanoi's lantern and toy street, lit up for weeks beforehand.

When to go

The two weeks before the full moon are busier and more interesting than the night itself, particularly on Hang Ma after dark. Lion dance troupes work the evenings from about a week out. Hoi An marks it with lanterns on the river. The date moves with the lunar calendar, so check it before planning travel around it.

Honest expectations

Hang Ma in the run-up is packed to a standstill, mostly with people taking photographs, and much of what is sold is plastic and imported rather than the paper and bamboo of the older festival. Mooncakes are dense and very sweet, and the gift-boxed ones are absurdly priced. Lion drumming outside your window goes on late into the night.

Nearby

Hang Ma runs straight into the rest of Hanoi's Old Quarter trade streets.