CHINA: Millions of Chinese look forward to a week of shopping, travelling, and eating mooncakes as two major holidays approach

Record ID: 568343

  • Title: CHINA: Millions of Chinese look forward to a week of shopping, travelling, and eating mooncakes as two major holidays approach
  • Date: 29th September 2006
  • Summary: (L!WE) BEIJING, CHINA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2006) (REUTERS) WIDE OF SHOPPING CENTER BOXES OF MOONCAKES UNLOADING VARIOUS OF MOONCAKES CUSTOMERS SELECTING MOONCAKES CLOSE OF A BOX OF MOONCAKES (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) FANG XIAOJING, SAYING: "Mid-Autumn is a traditional Chinese festival. It is the day that the family reunites. Family members will congregate from other places. They w
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAE73M3LA2X88XTG2IUXUPWF3RD
  • Story Text: The first week of October will mean double happiness for Chinese with the rare coincidence of two holidays - the patriotic National Day and traditional Mid-Autumn festival.
    The past week has seen Beijing's markets packed with customers on the look-out for the perfect mooncake: a traditional, heavy pastry filled with salted duck egg yolk, lotus seed paste, red bean paste or even chocolate or ice cream.
    Mooncakes are the mainstay of the Mid-Autumn festival, celebrated annually in the middle of the lunar calendar's 8th month - which translates to October 6th this year.
    Families gather across the nation to share a meal and gaze at the largest full moon of the year.
    Fang Xiaojing (pron: fuhng hsee-ow djeeng)w as out buying up colorfully-wrapped boxes of mooncakes for her company to distribute.
    "Mid-Autumn is a traditional Chinese festival. It is the day that the family reunites. Family members will congregate from other places. They will get together at home and enjoy the festival, eating mooncakes and chatting," she said.
    All of this has roots in history. Mooncakes symbolise the overthrow of the Mongols at the end of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century when, according to legend, secret notes baked into sweets helped spark an uprising.
    Customer Song Jicai said that the festival brings in a week of good cheer.
    "This is one of China's traditional festivals. And it is part of Chinese culture. Everyone is happy when this festival comes. We buy some mooncakes and sit together and share our feelings," said Song Jicai (pron: sohng djee tsai).
    Today mooncakes are big business. Last year mooncake sales in the Chinese capital alone hit nearly 1 billion yuan (123.9 million U.S. dollars).
    But for all their popularity, mooncakes are subjects of annual controversy over their climbing prices, the waste generated by their excessive packaging and unsavory makers grinding up the previous year's cakes for use in new batches.
    Not to be forgotten is China's commemoration of its 57th anniversary on Sunday (October 1).
    The day kicks off 'golden week' - a concept introduced by the government in 2000 to stimulate spending and tourism across the nation.
    China has three such golden weeks: during the National Day holiday, the May Day holiday and the traditional Spring Festival.
    Golden weeks are characterised in China by one of the world's biggest migrations of humanity as millions travel to their home towns, domestic tourist spots, or increasingly, abroad.
    This year the government expects a record high 120 million trips taken by Chinese tourists, at home and abroad.
    Zhang Lei (pron: djahng lay). is studying at university in Beijing. Because 'Golden Week' gets him out of class for a week, he is braving the crowds at the station in order to be able to spend Mid-Autumn with his family.
    "Mid-Autumn day is a traditional Chinese festival. It has a history of thousands of years. It is a symbol of family reunion. So people will return home from all other parts of the country. You see now the Beijing train station is so crowded," he said.
    But hordes of people, rapacious trinket sellers and inflated prices mean China's "Golden Week" holidays are becoming less popular and could be scrapped, according to state media.
    Despite burgeoning travel-related revenues -- May's Labour Day generating a record 40 billion yuan (5 billion USD) alone -- official media have also raised concerns about traffic accidents and the strain on tourist infrastructure and heritage sites. ENDS.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register