Photos: Mid-Autumn Festival, Under the Shadow of ‘Zero-COVID’

Renewed pandemic-control measures have muted celebrations in many parts of the country, as authorities double down on lockdown policies. 

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations are once again taking place under the shadow of “zero-COVID” policies in many parts of China, as the country tightens restrictions amid a spate of outbreaks.

Several cities remain under full lockdown, and residents there will be spending the holiday at home. The rest of the country, meanwhile, will still be affected by China’s tightened travel restrictions and group gatherings, which will remain in place until the end of October.

Yet many cities have held holiday activities on schedule, with many locals donning traditional “hanfu” robes and carrying lanterns to get in the festive mood.                      

Tourists visit an ancient street on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

Women wearing “hanfu” clothing take photos at Great Tang All Day Mall in Xi’
an, Shaanxi province, Sept. 10, 2022.

A resident carries a rabbit lantern on Lugou Bridge in Beijing, Sept. 10. 2022. Hou Yu/CNS/IC

Tourists ride a “moon boat” at West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Sept. 9, 2022. VCG

Photography enthusiasts wait to shoot the Mid-Autumn full moon at the Forbidden City, Beijing, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

A full moon over Yuejiang Tower on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival, in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

A full moon is seen behind the Canton Tower on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

Chefs make a giant moon cake with a diameter of 3 meters at a shopping mall in Changzhi, Shanxi province, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

Volunteers prepare to deliver mooncakes to residents at a community under lockdown in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

A man bits into a meat mooncake in front of a famous dessert house on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival in Shanghai, Sept. 10, 2022. Tang Yanjun/CNS/VCG

Tourists visit an island temple standing on the dried-up bed of Poyang Lake in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

A woman takes photos of a worship scene on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival at a village in Huizhou, Guangdong province, Sept. 10, 2022. In Huizhou, people usually worship their ancestors and the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. VCG

People perform the “Shao Fan Pagoda,” which means “Burning Fan Tower,” at a village in Foshan, Guangdong province, Sept. 10, 2022. “Shao Fan Pagoda” is a traditional Mid-Autumn Festival ritual in the Pearl River Delta. VCG

A firefighter looks at the full moon at a shelter following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Luding County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, Sept. 10, 2022. VCG

Editor: Dominic Morgan.