A foreigner tries moon cake gambling in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo by Liu Xianglun provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A carnival celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional family reunion and moon cake savoring day which falls on Sept 13 this year, will run in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, from Aug 30 to Sept 28. 

Featuring moon cake gambling, this year's celebrations will highlight the century-old tradition said to have been created by Zheng Chenggong, better known globally by the Hokkien pronunciation of his name, Koxinga. Zheng was a loyalist during the Ming Dynasty who resisted the Qing conquest on China's southeastern coast in the 17th century, and the game was to relieve the nostalgia of soldiers and cheer them up during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The game, played with six dice, is fair and simple but funny. Players win by throwing the dice into a bowl to get different pips that stand for different ranks of awards. 

The carnival will have various features such as augmented reality-based games, music shows, temple fairs, and photo and short video shooting competitions. A total of 100 foreign tourism insiders and media workers will also embark on trips around Xiamen, fully benefiting from the city's 144-hour visa-free transit services. 

The event is hosted by the Fujian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Xiamen municipal government.