In pictures: Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also known as the lantern or moon festival, is celebrated among Chinese communities to mark the end of the harvest season.

The festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Lunar calendar and is considered to be one of the most important events. Contrary to popular belief, the festival does not always occur during a full moon.

The festival is celebrated by many Chinese communities around the world, including China, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This image shows the lights in Singapore's Chinatown.

Below, a boy rollerblades past a carp lantern in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Colourful brightly-lit lanterns are an important symbol of the festival. In many communities, children also participate in lantern parades.

Visiting temples to offer prayers is another important custom during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Round lotus cakes symbolising the moon are popularly shared and eaten during the festival.

Mooncakes are not only enjoyed by the young and the elderly. Below, a panda in China's Kunming zoo is fed a mooncake by its keeper.

Chinese emperors worshipped the moon goddess Chang'e and her rabbit. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman marked this belief by creating a giant structure called "Moon Rabbit" in Taiwan.