Mooncake Madness

It is mooncake season and I have to tell you that these are the worst tasting things you've ever called "dessert".

Mooncakes, a traditional delicacy gifted to families and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival, have become an important ingredient in maintaining business and work relations.

With the festival falling tomorrow, the reception areas of almost every office building are overflowing with boxes of mooncakes.

The traditional festival has become a Chinese Christmas of sorts, topping other occasions for giving or receiving gifts.

"We send presents to our clients during the Mid-Autumn Festival, rather than the Spring Festival," said Elsa Wang, who works for a public relations firm in Beijing. The company started budgeting months earlier and has been delivering mooncakes as early as a month ago.

"It doesn't matter how much a package costs.... Mooncakes are the best way to say: Let us keep in touch."