News Summary: Beijing's next target? Mooncakes


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

(AP) - BAD MOON RISING: China's Communist Party, in an effort to combat bribery, has singled out the mooncake. It has banned the use of public money to buy the traditional pastries and associated gifts, dampening demand just as the market hits its usual peak ahead of the mid-autumn festival.

BETWEEN THE MOON AND BEIJING CITY: The hockey-puck-sized pastries exchanged typically contained lotus seed, red bean paste and salted egg yolk. Some luxurious mooncakes now have rare ingredients such as abalone, shark fins or bird's nest. They sometimes carry gold coins, high-end wines, mobile phones and diamond rings.

THE DARK SIDE: Typically sold in boxes of four, the mooncakes retail for $20 to $50. But they've become increasingly lavish to appeal to the growing middle class in China, where there is a strong culture of gift-giving aimed at showing off status and building up goodwill.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

Business
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast