ෂැංහායි නගරය, චීනය සාම්ප්රදායික මැද සරත් ඍතු උත්සවය වෙනුවෙන් චීන ජාතිකයන් මේ දිනවල සූදානම් වෙමින් සිටියි.
Mooncakes, fruits, crabs see surge in sales ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival
As the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival is just days away, food sales across China are soaring, with not only mooncakes flying off the shelves, but also autumn fruits and hairy crabs being in high demand.
In the financial hub of Shanghai, time-honored pastry brands are seeing a surge in mooncake sales, with the irresistible aroma of freshly baked mooncakes drawing crowds despite the sweltering early autumn heat. Long lines form outside the shops as people wait to purchase their mooncakes.
To better manage the high demand and reduce waiting time, stores have imposed purchase limits, allowing each customer to buy a maximum of four boxes of meat-stuffed mooncakes.
"I've been in line for about an hour and a half. My husband and I each bought four boxes of mooncakes. Six boxes will be sent out as gifts and the remaining two are for us," said Mrs. Cao, a local resident.
This year, some brands have introduced innovative flavors, such as curry-flavored yak meat mooncakes, which have caught the interest of many customers.
"Sales have increased by about 40 percent recently compared to the previous period. Consumers prefer freshly baked Suzhou-style mooncakes for their soft and delicate texture," said Wang Xiaohui, deputy head of the business department at a food store.
The festival also coincides with the peak season for autumn fruits, with both domestic and imported fruits seeing a significant increase in supply and sales. Large fruit wholesale markets in Zhengzhou City, capital of central China's Henan Province, are bustling as vendors prepare for the holiday rush.
"We're trading in over 300 tons of pomegranates daily, 100 tons of plums, and 50 to 60 tons of winter jujubes from Dali County. The volume is exceptionally high, up 20 percent from the corresponding period of last year," said Xu Peihong, a fruit wholesaler.
The market is now rich with seasonal fruits like pomegranates, plums and winter jujubes. Among imported fruits, Thai durians, South African mandarins and Chilean apples are particularly popular. Sales of fruit hampers, including those featuring kiwis and sunshine rose grapes, have also risen.
"Our price monitoring indicates that the fruit market is relatively stable with ample supply," said Yu Baojian, director of an agricultural produce logistics center.
Autumn is also the season for hairy crabs. Farmers in Guannan County of east China's Jiangsu Province are busy harvesting crabs from a vast 30,000-mu (about 2,000-hectare) breeding area.
They sort and package the freshly harvested crabs before shipping them to markets outside the region via cold chain transport, while local residents can buy crabs directly from the source.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the night when the moon reaches its fullest and brightest on the 15th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar. This year, the day falls on Sept 17. During the festival, families reunite, admire the moon, share mooncakes and light up lanterns.
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