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Watch: Giant moon balloon cuts loose in typhoon-hit China
A giant model moon was cut loose on the roads of Fuzhou, capital of southeastern China’s Fujian province as super typhoon Meranti, believed to be the world’s strongest storm this year, skirted past the country on Wednesday.
A giant model moon was cut loose on the roads of Fuzhou, capital of south-eastern China’s Fujian province, as super typhoon Meranti, believed to be the world’s strongest storm this year, skirted past the country on Wednesday.
According to a report in the shanghaiist, an online Chinese portal, officials have set up mini-moon models and giant lanterns across the country in the run-up to this year’s mid-autumn festival, also called the Moon festival.
People pose for photos in front of giant lit-up moon models during the lantern carnival, a part of the festival.
One such model severed from its base and rolled onto the streets of Fuzhou after Typhoon Meranti, packing gusts of up to 227 kilometres per hour, hit the industrial hub.
China has issued “red alert” and cancelled hundreds of flights and trains as it braced for violent gales and heavy rains. Meranti - the strongest typhoon to hit China in years - was likely to hit the coast of Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. It comes just over two months after the deadly typhoon Nepartak cut power and grounded flights across China.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a popular East Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China’s Zhou Dynasty. The festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which usually parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar.
(with inputs from agencies)
