An eclipse of the mooncake (3)

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Budget pastry revival

But that doesn't mean people have stopped eating mooncakes this year. On the contrary, inexpensive types, the most traditional kinds, are seeing a revival in the market.

In Shanghai's bustling Huaihai Road, several food stores and restaurants that sell meat-stuffed mooncakes for 3 yuan apiece have long lines of customers all day. Crunchy cakes with juicy fillings similar to the local specialty, xiaolongbao, are selling like hotcakes to office workers in the area who spend up to two hours in line to buy them.

Cai Hongjie, general manager of Wangjiasha, a traditional eatery in Shanghai, said they have been selling more than 8,000 of meat-filled mooncakes a day in recent weeks, and the peak is yet to come.

Ice cream mooncakes from foreign companies such as Haagen-Dazs are becoming popular among young people.

Shi, the scalper, said that seven of every 10 vouchers he has resold this year are from Haagen-Dazs or other ice-cream mooncake producers, "because that's something people are actually willing to pay for".

Xu Zhen, a salesman at the website vip.fescoadecco, which helps companies pick gifts for their staff, said mooncake vouchers from ice cream sellers such as Cold Stone and Dairy Queen are the most popular among human resources people.

"Mooncakes, essentially, are food," said Gu Xiaoming, a sociologist from Shanghai Fudan University. "In ancient times, they were filled with meaning as a symbol of the harvest moon and family gatherings. Now, as they gradually lose their function as gifts, they may again start to be appreciated for their gastronomic beauty."

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