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"For the Vietnamese, Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival) is a time to spend with loved ones after a season of hard work, and families welcome the festival by placing trays of fruit and cakes on their ancestral altars and eating mooncakes," it notes.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month and it falls on September 10 this year.
Baked mooncake and sticky rice mooncake are typical delicacies in Vietnam, which reflects a heavy Chinese influence. They have a round or rectangular shape which embodies sky and earth together – a symbol of affluence and wholeness.
Baked mooncakes have a golden hue, while sticky rice mooncakes have an ivory-like white color - each carries its distinctive flavors.
While the Chinese perform the dragon dance during this festival, the Vietnamese have their unicorn dance and lion dance, which invite luck, wealth and prosperity.
"On the night of the full moon, a male dancer wearing a round happy-faced mask parades the streets, bringing people joy with his comical gestures.
"The mask is supposed to embody Ong Dia, the God of the Earth who symbolizes prosperity and who serves as a reminder to the people to be thankful for the land’s harvests," SCMP said.
Weeks before the festival, several streets and Chinatown areas in Vietnam are lit with colorful lanterns.
The other four countries on the SCMP list are South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.
Hanoians shop for the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Old Quarter, 2020. Video by The Quynh
