Mooncakes a savory way to round out Mid-Autumn Festival

The 2019 Development Trend of China's Mooncake Industry unveiled by the China Association of Bakery and Confection Industry said traditional flavors are still the mainstream in the 2019 market, such as wuren (a mixture of five different nuts) and sweet bean paste, while new varieties such as French cheese and durian are more popular with younger consumers.

2019 has also seen a boom in collaborations between pastry companies and museums in producing culturally themed mooncakes, such as those with poetic designs coproduced by Beijing's Daoxiangcun pastries and the Palace Museum. The pastries, featuring a very untraditional and unique color of black on their crust, carry a literal connotation, as ink was widely used by the literati for paintings and calligraphy back in ancient times.