Yueguangbing facts for kids

Yueguangbing (Chinese: 月光饼; lit. 'moonlight biscuit') is a special type of mooncake. People also call it moonlight cake or Hakka mooncake. It comes from the Hakka culture in China.

This cake is white, flat, and round, like a disc. It often has beautiful pictures of flowers and animals carved or painted on top. Long ago, people used Yueguangbing as gifts for the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, Hakka people and those with Chinese heritage eat it in many countries. You can find it in places like Southeast Asia and Africa, especially in Mauritius.

What is Yueguangbing Made Of?

Yueguangbing is mostly made from two simple things. These are sticky rice flour and sugar.

Sometimes, these cakes have a sweet filling inside. This filling often includes candied winter melon, dried coconut, and sesame seeds. These ingredients are mixed with more sticky rice flour, sugar, margarine, and water.

Yueguangbing Around the World

This special cake is not just found in China. Hakka people have carried their traditions to many other countries.

Yueguangbing in Africa

On the island of Mauritius, people still make, sell, and eat Yueguangbing. The Sino-Mauritian community enjoys it during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This is a very old custom for them.

Hakka people who moved to Mauritius brought this tradition with them. They call it Niat Kwong kow (Chinese: 月光糕; lit. 'moonlight cake') in their Hakka Chinese dialect. But most people in Mauritius know it by its local name, gato lalune. This name means "mooncake" in Mauritian Creole. However, "gato lalune" can also refer to other kinds of mooncakes, like the Niat piang (Chinese: 月饼).