In order to let GTIIT members feel the charm of traditional folk culture, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology held a Chaoshan mooncake DIY activity on September 15. This event was organized by GTIIT Campus Operations Department. The event attracted nearly a hundred teachers and students.

Chaozhou-style mooncakes also known as “lao cakes”, are traditionally famous in the Chaoshan area and one of the major mooncake genres in China. GTIIT invited professional pastry chefs to demonstrate the production process in detail. The activity also provided translations for foreign teachers and their families.

During the activity, children rubbed the crust excitedly. Teachers and students helped each other and taught the students around how to wrap the mooncake.

After making the mooncakes, people received the corresponding number and stamped the mooncakes by themselves. At the end of the activity, teachers and students can use the number to get and taste the mooncakes made by themselves.

The hardest part of the mooncake making process is preparing the filling, but the staff have been kind enough to help us. The rest of the steps are simple and easy to follow. The first kind of mooncake we made is a classic mooncake style in Chaoshan area. It is also a mooncake style that adults in Chaoshan family would like very much.

——Qiu Bixia, PhD candidate

In addition to the complex craftsmanship of Chaoshan mooncakes, this event also arranged the production of mooncakes that does not require baking. Students shared their molds and printed the four mooncakes with different patterns. After finishing, they packed the mooncakes and put them in their gift bags.

During the process, a lantern riddles game began. Several foreign children had excellent performance. There was a lot of fun.

I think this activity is really fun and nice. I am the new come. I came to GT before 3 weeks. I need to learn the traditions of China since it is a new country for me. The best way is to study. So I came today and I learned a lot. I made the mooncake by myself and it is tasty.

——Elissaios Stavrou, Professor

No matter which province we come from to study here, we have the custom of eating moon cakes during Mid-Autumn Festival. This activity not only allowed us to eat the local characteristics of Shantou mooncakes for the first time, but also learned how to make moon cakes, which made me feel that the Mid-Autumn Festival in university is very meaningful.

——Wang Yixu, student of 2020