Mooncake 月饼

Chinese mid-autumn festival takes place on 19th October this year and mooncake is a common gift given to friends and family.

Sometimes it's even eaten. I must be honest I'm not particularly keen on mooncake. If you ask a Chinese person do they like eating moon cake you you may get a sideways smile and in a quieter voice they may confess. 'To be honest, not really'.

There is this story about the moon-cake. during the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to the foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon caked was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attached and overthrew the government. Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend and was called the Moon Cake.