Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar (Oct 6 this year), is one of China's four major traditional holidays, alongside Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival.

Rooted in ancient celestial worship and moon-gazing traditions, the festival has evolved into a celebration centered on family reunions and mooncake tasting.

Mooncakes, with their round shape symbolizing unity and happiness, are more than just a delicious treat; they carry heartfelt wishes for togetherness. The variety of mooncakes, from classic lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk to modern fruit and snow skin versions, reflects the rich culinary traditions across different regions.

This year, as the scent of osmanthus lingers in the air and the full moon takes its place in the sky, Shanghai's heritage brands are unveiling an exciting array of innovative flavors.

Check it out! 👇

🥮 Tai Kang Foods (泰康食品)

Tai Kang Foods introduces a bold spicy soy sauce pork mooncake. The combination of spicy soy sauce, fresh meat, and buttery pastry creates a harmonious balance, reducing greasiness while enhancing flavor.

Another standout is the Evergreen Cantonese mixed-nut mooncake, which blends the classic taste of Shanghai Evergreen Biscuits into the Canton-style mooncake crust, offering a sweet and savory twist.

🥮 Zhen Lao Da Fang (真老大房)

Zhen Lao Da Fang caters to diverse palates with three new offerings: yak meat and barley, crab roe and pork, and dried tangerine peel with red bean paste mooncakes.

The yak meat and barley mooncake, made with premium yak meat from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and local barley, delivers a unique and layered taste experience.

🥮 Lao Dah Vong & Co (西区老大房)

Lao Dah Vong & Co presents two innovative flavors: abalone pork and cilantro beef mooncakes. The abalone pork mooncake combines traditional minced pork filling with seasoned abalone pieces, creating a rich and full-bodied taste.

The cilantro beef mooncake features imported grass-fed beef brisket mixed with cilantro, encased in handmade pastry, and baked to perfection.

🥮 Guang Ming Cun (光明邨)

Guang Ming Cun delights with its Sichuan pepper beef mooncake, a favorite among diners. Made with tenderloin seasoned in Sichuan pepper oil, it offers a fresh numbing flavor that complements the savory beef.

🥮 Shen Da Cheng (沈大成)

Shen Da Cheng offers a nostalgic treat with its "little coal briquette" pork mooncake. The black crust, created by blending squid ink powder into the dough, resembles a coal briquette and evokes memories of beloved childhood flavors.

🥮 Shao Wan Sheng (邵万生)

During Mid-Autumn Festival, edamame and taro are essential features on Shanghainese tables. Shao Wan Sheng honors these local flavors with its taro and edamame pork mooncake, blending fresh taro, edamame, and marbled pork into a savory and juicy filling.

🥮 De Xing Restaurant (上海德兴馆)

De Xing Restaurant showcases its honey-glazed char siu mooncake, featuring pork shoulder meticulously marinated in a secret char siu sauce. With the meat filling making up more than 60 percent of the mooncake, each bite delivers a rich and aromatic char siu experience.

🥮 Godly (功德林)

Godly introduces a 64-layer pastry mooncake — a freshly baked vegan beef mooncake. This handcrafted delight combines spicy vegan beef with soybeans and mushrooms, delivering a refreshing and subtly spicy flavor.

These brands have multiple locations across Shanghai, making it easy for visitors to indulge in the culinary creations. Simply search for the store names in a navigation app and embark on a flavorful journey this Mid-Autumn Festival.

Sources: WeChat account of the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government at "shanghaifabu", brands mentioned above