The Chinese Moon Festival, or the Mid-autumn Festival falls on August 15th, according to the Chinese Lunar calendar. It is one of the three most important traditional festivals along with the Spring Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival. The story of Chang'er flying to the Moon is the most well known legendary stories related to the Moon Festival.

Lady Chang'er is a moon goddess. Her husband is the famous fighter and archer Hou Yi. Ferocious beasts once plagued people on the earth. Hou Yi and his wife were sent to the earth to fight these beasts. Hou Yi finished his job. Originally there were ten suns circling over the earth, each took its turn to illuminate to the earth. However, one day all ten suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. They dried up rivers and forests and crops were destroyed in flames and men died in piles. Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns after his persuasion for them to stop failed. This angered the Emperor of the Heaven because the Suns were all his sons, and Hou Yi killed nine of them. Eventually, the archer and his wife were banished from heaven and forced to live by hunting on earth.

Hou Yi, sorry that his wife had to lead a mortal's life because of him, obtained an elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West. The medicine could bring man to heaven. Unfortunately it's not enough for two. He hid the medicine from his wife, but Chang'er does not like her new life on earth. She found the elixir, swallowed it while Hou Yi was away from home and flew to the moon.

Hou Yi loved his divinely beautiful wife so much; he didn't shoot down the moon. He lived alone on earth by hunting and teaching archery. He was shot dead while he was drunken by one of his jealous students. The Chang'er in the Moon Palace never felt happy either, she was lonely and sorry, because she could never again have the happy life with her husband and her only company was a small rabbit.