Bakeries in Taiwan are experiencing a surge in customers, with long lines forming as people rush to purchase mooncakes ahead of the traditionally celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival.
In Taiwan, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a cherished tradition with family reunions and festive gatherings, marked by moon-gazing, feasting on mooncakes, peeling pomelos, and savoring family moments.
Mooncakes and pineapple cakes are essential to the festival.
A renowned Taipei bakery is bustling with activity and long lines formed outside. Many customers wait over half an hour to select their favorite Mid-Autumn treats.
"Since I work away from home, I don't get to reunite with my family often. Mooncakes are an important gift. When we gather, it's a moment of completeness, just like the full moon. And the egg yolk puff is round too, symbolizing reunion and completeness," said a local resident.
Traditional flavors like green bean mooncakes and red bean egg yolk puff, with their delicate crusts and fresh fillings, are deeply prized by the local community.
To pander to the needs of surging consumers, the bakery which has been running in Taipei for 50 years, has extended its business hours by an hour during this busy season.
"Long lines stretch from 08:00 to 21:00 in front of our shop every day and sales are booming. This year, we've partnered with a renowned artist to design a special festive gift box. It contains all our products in one package, allowing customers to enjoy all kinds of flavors easily," said the shop's manager.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on Sept. 17 this year.
Taiwan residents rush to buy mooncakes ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival
Taiwan residents rush to buy mooncakes ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing on Tuesday, with both sides pledging to promote the China-Vietnam community with a shared future.
Noting that China and Vietnam are comrades in the socialist cause and good partners on the path of reform, Han said General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam have made strategic plans for advancing the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, providing clear direction for the development of bilateral relations.
Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Han said the two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, maintain strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, consolidate the foundation of public opinion, strengthen multilateral coordination and promote the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, bringing more benefits to the two peoples.
Bui Thanh Son said that developing long-term friendly relations with China is the consistent proposition, objective requirement, strategic choice and top priority of Vietnam's diplomacy.
Vietnam firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation with China, and jointly promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future with strategic significance, he added.
Chinese, Vietnamese officials pledge to promote China-Vietnam community with shared future
