Those who missed the chance to catch a glimpse of the mid-autumn moon can do so tonight when clearer weather and a fuller moon make for better skyward gazing.
The Observatory's scientific officer, Lee Kwok-lun, said last night's moon was not the fullest. 'The full moon actually occurs on September 27 at around 3.40am. The sky will also improve tonight and the amount of cloud will also decrease, so the probability of seeing the moon is greater,' Mr Lee said.
The mid-autumn full moon usually falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month and, according to the observatory, the last time it occurred on the 17th day was in 2000. The next time will be in 2016. Tonight's full moon will be one of the fullest seen in years when moonrise occurs at night. Apart from this year, all mid-autumn full-moon rises from 2005 to 2016 occurred, or are due to occur, during the day.
Cloudy skies did little to dampen the festive mood last night when thousands of people visited lantern carnivals across Hong Kong, including Victoria Park, the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade and the Cultural Centre Piazza at Tsim Sha Tsui.
A thriving economy also boosted spending, with mooncake sales and restaurant bookings up. Renowned mooncake makers Wing Wah Bakery said their mooncake sales rose by at least 5 to 10 per cent this year, with the traditional double-yolk, white lotus-paste-filled mooncakes being the best sellers.
Wing Wah Bakery spokesman Lee Ying-kuen said purchases by mainland tourists also rose 20 per cent compared with last year.
'Sales have risen from mid-July. We have seen many mainland tourists coming into the shop sweeping up dozens of boxes at a time. Some of them came in groups of three and four and bought up to 100 boxes. I think it is because they have more confidence in the food standards here,' Mr Lee said.
