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Huge hand-painted mooncake for the festival

By Zhang Qiong (chinadaily.com.cn)
2015-09-29

At 3 am on Sept 26, eight craftsmen from a mooncake workshop in Huaiyuan town of Yizhou, Hechi city, finished making a mooncake with a diameter of 2 meters, after 10 hours of hard work.

Huge hand-painted mooncake for the festival

The white mooncake with a diameter of 2 meters and colorful paintings made in Huaiyuan town, Yizhou, Guangxi province, Sept 26. [Photo/hcwang.cn]

Mooncake is a Chinese tradition during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, and this year it was on Sept 27.

The size of the moon cake is not the only highlight in it. The white mooncake also features hand-painted patterns “Goddess Chang's fly to the moon” and the scenery of the Huaiyuan ancient town, which adds up to its artistic value.

Huge hand-painted mooncake for the festival

Two painters color the drawings on the white mooncake in Huaiyuan town, Yizhou, Guangxi province, Sept 26. [Photo/hcwang.cn]

“The huge mooncake requires around 200 kg materials including rice flour, peanuts, sugar, sesame and walnuts. It is made for a large-scale celebration of the Mid-autumn Festival in the town,” elaborated Shi Chaowen, the owner of the mooncake workshop.

The drawing part of the mooncake, using edible pigment has been mainly done by Wei Lianhua, a teacher from the Art School of Hechi University in Guangxi province.

In recent years, Yizhou city has strengthened its efforts for the protection and inheritance of traditional hand-made food techniques. The city has cooperated with Hechi University, allowing many students to join in the hand painting work of white mooncakes.

Huge hand-painted mooncake for the festival

People pose for photo after the completion of mooncake artwork in Huaiyuan town, Yizhou, Guangxi province, Sept 26. [Photo/hcwang.cn]

Hechi is located in the northwestern part of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and the southern foothills of the Yungui Plateau.