September 11th, 2013
05:00 PM ET
Presenting mooncakes to relatives and business associates may be an integral part of China's Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, but a new law aims to dampen the spirit of mooncake giving - at least among government officials. As announced by the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the Chinese government has announced that officials will no longer be able to use public money to send mooncakes as gifts during the festival. The new restriction is being presented as part of President Xi Jinping's campaign against corruption and official largesse. "Superior departments and officials should seize on the trend of these luxurious celebrations and be courageous enough to spot and rectify decadent behavior in a timely manner while setting an example themselves," the party circular read. The traditional pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival is normally filled with salted duck egg yolk and lotus seed paste. The egg yolk inside symbolizes the moon - each piece can contain up to 1,000 calories. |
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holy a thousand calories?
Oh. There's something else to celebrate that day? *wink, wink* at my MUCH older Bro.
Tried them once. It has to ba an acuired taste as it was horrible for me.
I was very appreciative of the gesture from my Vietnamese co-worker when he offered me a cake for HIS celebration. Super nice guy. I pretended to enjoy the cake. He probably got a good chuckle out of my act. ;)
If you've never had one, the cake's flavor was, at best, bland. It's a very dense cake with the potential to be wonderful, but it tasted like someone left out a vital ingredient. It wasn't savory, it wasn't bitter, it sure wasn't sweet or salty, just bland. The eggs added very little to the flavor. But in the spirit of good will, if someone offers you one, take it and try it – in front of them. It's the polite thing to do.