Mooncakes aren’t the only festive food. In certain areas of Guangdong, people also eat taro, a root vegetable, because its Chinese name “yu tou” sounds similar to “hu tou”, a phrase that evokes a Mongolian invasion in 1279 during the Song dynasty. Coincidentally, mid-autumn is when the tubers are harvested, making it a perfectly seasonal food. Then, in the late Yuan dynasty, paper slips with messages of a revolution against the “hu” rulers were hidden inside mooncakes. Now, Fujian locals scoop out the core of mooncakes for older relatives to eat, which symbolises how secrets are not to be leaked out to younger generations.…
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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2020