The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, when the moon is believed to be at its fullest and brightest during the autumn harvest. Families display lanterns of many shapes, symbolising light and good fortune, and eat mooncakes filled with sweet bean or lotus seed paste. The festival is based on the legend of Chang'e, the moon goddess. Similar celebrations take place across East and Southeast Asia, and it is an official holiday in mainland China and Taiwan.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.