
It's not necessary to eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival; it's a matter of personal preference whether you choose to eat them or not.
Eating mooncakes is a traditional custom in China during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The round shape of the mooncake symbolizes family reunion, reflecting people's beautiful wish to reunite with their families for the festival. During the Northern Song Dynasty, a type of "palace cake" was popular in the imperial court during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This gradually spread to the general public, and the people called this cake "small cake" or "moon bun". On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, we can see a large, round, and bright moon in the sky. By the Ming Dynasty, eating mooncakes became increasingly popular among the people. At that time, skilled bakers printed mythological stories about Chang'e flying to the moon as an artistic pattern on mooncakes, making them a must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
What Do People Eat in Fuzhou During the Mid-Autumn Festival
1、Liping (Gift Cake)
Because it is round, it has become the most traditional mooncake in Fuzhou, and eating Leping during the Mid-Autumn Festival means "a complete reunion". Leping is a traditional pastry with strong local characteristics in southeastern Fujian, and it is also one of the types of pastries that are high in sugar and oil. Leping is flat and round, larger than a mooncake, with thin skin like paper and rich filling with fragrant taste. It is smooth and tender, not greasy, and the surface is covered with a thick layer of white sesame seeds, which is hard to resist.

Usually given by grandfathers and grandmothers to their grandchildren during the Mid-Autumn Festival, its shape resembles two koi fish joined together. There are two ways to make it: one is to make it as a steamed dumpling with two koi fish drawn on top, and the other is to shape it like two koi fish, with the same filling as mooncakes. "Koi Cake" has two meanings: one is releasing koi fish, meaning "releasing three thousand offspring", praying for many children and descendants; the other symbolizes "koi fish leaping over the dragon gate". 3、Mutton Roll Zongzi (Meat Roll Rice Dumpling)
Zongzi is an essential traditional food during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and in Fuzhou, the most famous is the Mutton Roll Zongzi. Mutton Roll Zongzi is made by wrapping glutinous rice with salted meat, peanuts, mushrooms, and scallions, then wrapped in lotus leaves or bamboo leaves. Mutton Roll Zongzi has a delicious taste and a fragrant aroma, and is very popular among the people of Fuzhou.















