Moon Festival Time-Restricted Missions or Quests

The Moon Festival Time-Restricted Mission was released with a number of new Decorations.  Briefly, some of the latter were included in a sale offer that appeared as a gift box in the upper right corner of the screen.  Among these items is a Duck Swimming Pool that will give 1 RC per day until 6 September, provided always that a Neighbour cleans it.

As usual with time-restricted Quests, the Moon Festival Mission is two-pronged.  It consists both of a Collections Mission and a traditional Quest sequence.

The Collections Mission belongs to the class wherein ANY Crop, Tree, Animal or Machine can yield the required Item.  In this case, Elixirs randomly are found in any harvest.


Elixir Collections Mission:

Collect Elixirs from all kinds of Crops, Trees, Animals and Machines!

Bow and Arrow: 50 of these
  1st one costs 1Elixir

Panda Toy: 5 of these
  1st one costs 100 Elixirs, 2nd one costs 75 Elixirs.  You will need to place two on your Farm to complete the traditional Quest sequence.

30 OP:  30 of these
  1st one costs 1 RC

Organic Fertiliser: 20 of these
  1st one costs 2 RC

You need to redeem one of each of these four prizes to unlock the final Prize, a Laurus Tree.  The Laurus Tree alternatively can be purchased in the Market for 6 RC.  Once unlocked, you will need 250 Elixirs to redeem the Laurus Tree.

As always, the Collections Mission building, in this case Hou Yi's House can be upgraded to Level 5.  At Level 5, you will receive two Elixirs instead of one randomly when you harvest Items.  You need to spend 5 RC on one material to bring the bullding to Level 5.  All other materials either can be redeemed (in the form of the Bow and Arrow) or requested from Neighbours (in the form of the Jade Hairpin).

N.B.  31 August:  Since the Collections Mission began, despite the fact that I upgraded my Hou Yi House to Level 5 on the very first day, collection of Elixirs has been EXTREMELY slow on my Farm.  I receive next to none from Crops, and only a few from Trees, Machines and Animals.  For me, the Nectar and Beehives appear to yield the most, oddly enough.  I completed the traditional Moon Festival Quest sequence quickly only because I purchased the Laurus Tree for 6 RC.  I still have not collected enough Elixirs to redeem it, although I was able to redeem the two Panda Toys required in the Quest sequence.  I do not know if other players are experiencing this issue, but if so, it may be worth reporting.  Collections NEVER were this slow in any other Mission for me.


Moon Festival I:
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Felicia:  Wow, I'm so excited!  I'm going to visit a pen pal in China and guess what?  The Chinese Moon Festival is around the corner.  Let's complete our tasks on the farm and go!

Place Hou Yi's House on your Farm
  Find it in the Specials section of the Market and purchase for 500 Coins.  Will be active for 9 or 12 Days if purchased on first day of Mission.  (Market states 12, but message states 9)

Harvest 40 Corn
  Skip for 20 RC

Harvest 40 Blueberries
  Skip for 20 RC

Felicia:  I will start packing my bags now!  Oh, I almost forgot to pack my gift for my pen pal!

Reward: 85 Coins, 10 XP

Moon Festival II:
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Felicia:  here I am!  I wonder if I will recognise my pen friend from the picture.  Oh, I think the girl who is coming towards me is her.  She's so beautiful!  Gulp... Uh, my stomach is warning me!  She says she knows the perfect place to eat!

Produce 40 Sacks of Wheat Flour
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 10 plates of Dumplings
  Skip for 10 RC

Complete the orders on the Order Board
  N.B.  There is no option to skip this Task.  When you access your Daily Order Board, however, you can skip any of the three Tasks given there individually.  Skipping them is extremely expensive, however, and not recommended.  It is far better to purchase ingredients if you need to complete specific Recipes for which you lack ingredients and to use Fertiliser to reach whatever total of any Crop is needed if you do not have that total in your Barn.

Felicia:  I love dumplings and it's a perfect start of our journey to China.  My friend will tell us the story of a special festival.

Reward: 90 Coins, 12 XP

Moon Festival III:
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Felicia:  'A long time ago, there were 10 suns in the sky.  Crops died, water dried and people suffered!  A brave man called Hou Yi shot down nine suns and saved the world!  As a result, he received a bottle of elixir!'  Can we make elixir out of wine?

Produce 40 glasses of Cherry Juice
  Skip for 20 RC

Produce 40 Bottles of Wine
  Skip for 20 RC

Harvest 40 Cabbages
  Skip for 20 RC

Felicia:  Do you think people will like this wine elixir?

Reward: 100 Coins, 12 XP

Moon Festival IV
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Felicia:  One day some one tried to steal the elixir!  In order to protect the elixir, Hou Yi's wife Chang'e swallowed everything in one gulp.  She was so brave but it was also so risky!  She deserves a beautiful pair of earrings for this brave action!

Harvest 50 Lotus Flowers
  Skip for 25 RC

Craft 8 Pairs of Earrings of Love in Beauty Shop
  Skip for 8 RC

Fish 20 times with the Squid Hook
  Skip for 20 RC

Felicia:  This story is so interesting!  I wonder what will happen next!

Reward: 100 Coins, 14 XP

Moon Festival V
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Felicia:  After drinking the Elixir, the body of Chang'e ascended towards the moon.  On the moon there was only a palace, a rabbit and a laurus tree.  Chang'e was curious and went to check out the laurus tree.

Place a Laurus Tree on the Farm
  (from Hou Yi's house)
  Skip for 10 RC
  N.B.  To spend 10 RC is totally counterproductive in any circumstance here as you can purchase the Tree in the Market for 6 RC if you have not redeemed it yet from Hou Yi's House.

Harvest 6 Laurus Leafs
  Skip for 6 RC

Craft 6 Laurus Wreaths in Beauty Shop
  Skip for 6 RC

Felicia:  I never knew you can make such beautiful wreaths using laurus leafs!

Reward: 110 Coins, 14 XP

Moon Festival VI
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Felicia:  After Hou Yi found out what happned to his wife, he felt desperate because he wasn't able to rescue her and can never see her again.  What a poor couple... Let's do something for them!

Produce 20 Bowls of Lemon Ice Cream
  Skip for 10 RC

Harvest 50 Tomatoes
  Skip for 25 RC

Produce 8 Tiramisu
  Skip for 8 RC

Felicia:  I hope these treats can heal their broken hearts a bit!

Reward: 110 Coins, 15 XP

Moon Festival VII
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Felicia:  One night, Chang'e explained Hou Yi in a dream how they can see each other again.  Once per year, she can come back for several hours, but only if Hou Yi makes a mooncake on August 15th.  Shall we help them?

Prepare 20 Ice Cream Mooncakes
  Skip for 20 RC

Prepare 30 Sausage Mooncakes
  Skip for 30 RC

Prepare 20 Nut Mooncakes
  Skip for 20 RC

N.B.  You will need to prepare a total of 70 Mooncake Dough as an ingredient for each of these Items.  Do this in advance if you can!

Reward: 110 Coins, 15 XP

Felicia:  Luckily there is a way for them to meet each other every year!  I'm so happy for them!

Moon Festival VIII
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Felicia:  This story passed down from generation to generation.  Every year, people sacrifice different kinds of mooncakes to remember them.  I feel hungry now, could you prepare some snacks for me?

Produce 60 Loaves of Black Bread
  Skip for 30 RC

Produce 12 Bowls of Peach Ice Cream
  Skip for 6 RC

Harvest 60 Lavender
  Skip for 30 RC

Felicia:  These are so good!  Thanks a lot!

Reward: 120 Coins, 16 XP

Moon Festival IX
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Felicia:  That was such an interesting story!  What do I see there?  Is it the Palace Museum?  Most of the ancient emperors have lived here.  Do you want to have a look and maybe buy some souvenirs for Grandma and Darryl?

Collect 20 Window Papers from Neighbours
  Skip for 20 RC

Have 2 Panda Toys on the Farm
  N.B.  Redeem with Elixirs from Hou Yi's House
  Skip for 12 RC

Fertilise your Neighbours' Farms 40 Times
  Skip for 40 RC

Reward: 120 Coins, 16 XP

Felicia: The Palace Museum was so impressive!  But unfortunately the time has come to say goodbye and go back to the farm.

Moon Festival X
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Felicia:  I'm back on the farm!  We have to share this beautiful story of the Chinese Moon Festival!  Not only with our family, but also with all our friends!  But first, let's finish some tasks on the farm!

Prepare 8 Bowls of Dumpling Soup
  Skip for 8 RC

Harvest 5 Dates
  Skip for 5 RC

Prepare 10 Bowls of Boiled Fish with Pickled Cabbage
  Skip for 10 RC

Reward: 120 Coins, 16 XP

Felicia:  All my friends loved the story!  And they said they want to pay a visit to China themselves one day!  How about you?

FINAL REWARD:  Rabbit Statue, yielding Purple Gift Bag when cleaned.



Strategies for Mission
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One can prepare for completion of this Mission as follows:

First of all, it always is a good idea to make as many ingredients in advance as possible, particularly where Kitchen Recipes are concerned, as Power is limited to a default of 30.  More Power can be obtained from the various Gift Bags that can be received as Rewards for having Decorations on your own Farm or visiting Neighbouring Farms.  Even so, it is a good idea to make some of the Basic Recipes for use in the future.

When one studies the new Recipes, one can see a need for Beef Sausage and Turkey Sausage.  If you do not have these in the Barn, you may wish to make a fair number of both.  That requires Pasture to feed the Limousin Cattle to produce Beef and Rice to feed the Turkey to produce Turkey Meat.  One then needs the Salami Machine to produce the Sausage.  You will need to make a Dish called Sliced Sausages using 2 Beef Sausage and 1 Turkey Sausage for each.  More details are given in the paragraph about Moon Festival VII but suffice it to say now that you will need a total of 60 Beef Sausage and 30 Turkey Sausage to complete the task.

There is an Ice Cream Recipe that requires Grape Ice Cream as one of the Ingredients.  If you do not have any in your Barn, you may wish to make some.  You will need only 20 Grape Ice Cream for this Recipe.  If you do not have an Ice Cream Machine, you do need to buy one as Ice Cream of various types is featured in the Moon Festival Quest sequence.

In this case, the Collections Mission has only one Reward, and this is a Laurus Tree that can be purchased in the Market for 6 RC.  Placement of two Panda Toys is one of the Tasks in the Quest sequence, so you should try to redeem these as soon as possible.  You can find Elixirs randomly in ANYTHING in this Mission, which makes matters easier.

You will need a total of 70 Mooncake Dough as an ingredient for Recipes required in Moon Festival VII.  It is best to make all of these in advance if you can.  You will need to make 70 Dishes to complete Moon Festival VII, each of which uses Mooncake Dough as one of the ingredients!

Furthermore, as indicated earlier, you will need to make Sliced Sausages as one of the ingredients in the 30 Sausage Mooncakes in Moon Festival VII.    The Nut Mooncakes require two Recipes as ingredients.  One of these is the Mooncake Dough and the other is Nut Paste.  In other words, Moon Festival VII is one of the most Power-intensive Quests that you will experience.  

I personally always find the seafood items the most difficult to obtain for these time-restricted Quests.  You will need a total of 8 Seaweed and 10 Smoked Mackerel for Moon Festival x.


New Recipes have been added to the Kitchen Menu as follows:

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New Recipes
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Mooncake Dough: 144 Coins, 1 XP
  Ingredients: Wheat Flour x 2, Honey x 2

Nut Paste: 188 Coins, 1 XP
  Ingredients: Nut Mix, Maple Syrup

Nut Mooncake: 371 Coins, 1 XP
  Ingredients: Mooncake Dough, Nut Paste

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Sliced Sausages: 228 Coins, 1 XP
  Ingredients: Beef Salami x 2, Turkey Sausage

Sausage Mooncake: 389 Coins, 1 XP
  Ingredients:  Sliced Sausages, Mooncake Dough

Ice Cream Mooncake: 273 Coins, 1 XP
  Ingredients:  Grape Ice Cream, Mooncake Dough

History and Significance of the Autumn Moon Festival
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Known as the Autumn Moon Festival, it is considered the second most important Festival according to the Lunar Calendar.  In 2014, the Autumn Moon Festival will be celebrated from 6 September to 8 September, although the actual main day of the Festival will be 8 September.

Originally a Han Festival, the Autumn Moon Festival has been celebrated by all the people of China for many centuries.  The most popular tale that is associated with this Festival is that of Chang'e and her husband Hou Yi.  This is the tale that is told by Felicia in the Moon Festival Quest in Seaside.

The story is associated with a period of extreme drought.  It is said that, at that time, there were 10 Suns in the heavens, causing a terrible heat and drought in the world.  The hero Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns, leaving only a single sun in the sky.

People came from everywhere to see the amazing man who had saved the world from drought. One of these individuals was a man named Peng Meng.   Later, Hou Yi married a very beautiful woman named Chang'E.

Wangmu, the Queen of Heaven encountered Hou Yi one day when he was on his way to meet his friend Peng Meng.  She presented him with a special Elixir that would cause him to ascend instantly to heaven to become a god.  Instead of drinking it himself, Hou Yi took it to his wife and asked her to keep it.  Regrettably, Peng Meng saw his friend give the Elixir to Chang'E.

Three days later, when Hou Yi was out hunting, Peng Meng visited the house to confront Chang'E, demanding that she give the Elixir to him.  Chang'E swallowed the Elixir herself rather than yielding to a man who had proven to be a false friend to her husband.  She then flew into the heavens, but her great love for her husband sent her to the Moon which is the heavenly body that is closest to the Earth.

When Hou Yi returned home to find that his wife had vanished from the Earth, he cried out her name.  Suddenly, a figure that resembled the dear form of his beloved appeared in the Moon.  He then offered the food that she loved most to her and, following his example, the people of the land began to offer sacrifices to Chang'E with their prayers for peace and good fortune.

Sacrifice to the Moon is a very ancient custom and not restricted to China.  There are other legends that are associated with the Moon and one concerns the Rabbit.

Three immortals once incarnated themselves into three old people, then begged for food from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit.  The fox and the monkey both gave food to the immortals but the Rabbit had none to give.  The Rabbit cried, 'You can eat me!' and leapt into the fire.  The immortals were so moved by the sacrifice of the Rabbit that they sent the animal to the Moon to become an immortal Jade Rabbit.  Since then, the Rabbit can be seen in the Moon, residing with Chang'E in the Moon Palace, and pounding immortal medicine for all those who reside in the heavens.

Another Chinese legend that is associated with the Moon concerns a man from the time of the Han Dynasty named Wu Gang.  He attempted to follow the immorals into heaven to become one of them but made an error and therefore was banished to the Moon to chop the Laurel Tree  This Tree grows in front of the Moon Palace.  Each time it is cut down, it will grow back instantly.  Cutting it down eternally is the punishment of Wu Gang.

The Laurel Tree has been associated with immortality as well as victory throughout the world even in the most ancient cultures.  The Greeks and Romans believed that chewing the leaves of the laurel would allow humans to contact the gods.   The seers chewed laurel leaves before they made pronouncements about the future.  Laurel leaves were burned as well to create visions.   One of the most famous was the Oracle of Delphi who both chewed laurel and bay and inhaled the fumes of the burnt leaves as well as drinking from the sacred waters before entering the altered state of consciousness to deliver pronouncements that were considered to be communications from the gods.

In China, the special food of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival always has been the Moon Cake.  This is a special round cake that often is filled with delicacies such as nuts and honey.