Chinese New Year-themed LEGO® builds have been a staple of the January release window for several years. But for the first time, we’ve been treated to two more Chinese Festivals sets as part of the Summer wave of sets. Although the set was released in June, it’s tied to an Autumn festival. In 2026, this takes place towards the end of September. The Moon Festival, also known as the less exciting-sounding Mid-Autumn Festival, occurs when the moon is at its fullest. The Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn features several minifigures, including one representing Su Dongpo, a famous Chinese poet, whose most well-known work is a poem inspired by the brilliance of the Mid-Autumn moon. Here’s a closer look at the newly released Chinese Festivals set, the Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn.
Product Details
Set Name: Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn | Set Number: 80121 | Pieces: 1530 | Theme: Chinese Festivals
Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Sticker: sheet x 1 | Minifigures: x 9
RRP: £99.99/109.99€/$129.99/179.99AUD/179.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & selected retailers
The Chinese Festivals sets fall into two categories – symbolic display pieces or playset-type builds complete with minifigures. Both draw heavy inspiration from long-standing traditions of Chinese culture. The Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn falls into the playsets category, but unlike past sets, it’s based on an older time period. As briefly touched upon, the Moon Festival is a traditional harvest time festival celebrated in Chinese and East Asian cultures. It takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, so this year, that will fall on September 25th. It coincides with the moment the Moon is at its fullest and brightest, which gives a longer time for crops to be harvested. This and the inclusion of the Chinese poet, Su Dongpo, are detailed in the set’s instructions.
The Inn is built in a modular fashion. So you are presented with a fully enclosed building, with the interior accessed by removing a section of it. This is preferred as it gives the overall building a better finish and allows for some interesting flourishes to be included. The building includes two floors and a roof, with each of the sections clipping together via various jumper plates. These are secure enough to keep the building together, whilst also being easy enough to take apart.
As the building is an Inn, it features sleeping areas and places to eat. These are decorated with traditional beds and various pieces of food. These add some colour and features which stand out against the more muted colouring of the surrounding building. Extra details are added via several stickers. These tie into the inclusion of Su Dongpo’s poetic writings.
Along with the Inn, there is a small piece of scenery, which comprises two sections. One features a small well, and the other a tree. These can be linked together or connected to either side of the Inn’s base via Technic axle pins. In addition to that, there is also a small cart, which features a trio of white carrots. Although a horse is present in the set, it cannot be used to pull the cart; instead this more like a hand cart.
Apart from Su Dongpo, the set’s nine minifigures included a mix of generic Inn staff and patrons. These offer a good mix of traditional outfits and unique expressions. All of the torsos are currently unique to this set and wouldn’t look out of place next to the NINJAGO sets. In order to represent the Chinese culture infused into the set, the minifigures mostly have black hair pieces, apart from one chap who clearly is not Chinese, he’s noted as a ‘businessman’. This ties into the set being inspired by an Inn, a place used by travellers.
The Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn set can be built with the 3D instructions found on the LEGO Builder app and can be built by up to four people using the Build Together function of the same app. This splits the build experience up in unique ways. The Moon-Gazing Inn might not be as visually interesting as the Leaping Carp set, but it still represents Asian culture through its minifigures and the architectural style of the building. The modular levels of the Inn offer a better overall set compared to a building with an open back. The best thing about the set is all the little details to find. From pieces of art on the wall to hidden secrets in the base, the interior is filled with fun things to find. The Chinese Festivals Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn is available now from LEGO retail channels.
The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of it
