I Tasted 25 Mooncakes. The Best Came From a Temple

I arrived in China just before the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. In 2026 it fell on Friday 25 September. People eat a lot of mooncakes (月饼) around the festival.

In Shanghai I sometimes went out to explore the city on my own.

I visited Longhua Temple (龙华寺). It's the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Shanghai. Its pagoda was originally built in 977.

I bought mooncakes there and we tasted them together in the hotel room. They turned out to be the best ones I had on the whole trip.

I'd dare to say I tasted around 25 different mooncakes in different parts of China. By chance the best ones were the ones from the temple.

They had four fillings:

• Seaweed and nut 苔条 (táitiáo)*: greenish and a little salty
• Rich nut and seed 五仁 (wǔrén), five kernels
• Savoury spiced nut and seed mix 椒盐 (jiāoyán)*
• Sweet rose flavoured red bean paste 玫瑰豆沙 (méiguī dòushā)

The best one by far was the soft nutty one. Super good. A flavour I had never tasted before.

*Chinese name based on the description.

It was fun to see how the festival shows up in a big city and later in the countryside.

In Shanghai it wasn't that close to the main day or the full moon yet. Still mooncakes were sold everywhere. The temple still had the best ones. People were giving them to each other in all kinds of beautiful gift boxes.

When I asked people about their plans, the city and the countryside sounded exactly the same. Everyone planned to watch the full moon and get together with friends. Some with family. And of course mooncakes. Lots of them.

Some wanted to relax. Some even wanted to go out to eat and celebrate or get together with a group in some way.

So I can't name a difference between celebrating in the city and in the countryside. It was simply the same festival.

I spent the festival itself in Chenzhou (郴州) in Hunan. We were at Yuhou Street (裕后街). It's an old historic street in the city. It has really cool lights, market vibe, lot of local stuff and handicrafts. Fireworks were shot from moving boats.

We ate out with our group and soaked up the festival feeling. We watched the full moon, the fireworks and the river view.

There were families and young people and really everyone, not so much western people (none). Lots of people on the streets and crossing the bridges. Different boats went along the water. There were decorations for the festival and a good vibe overall.

We went on a boat ride. It was really pretty. Really beautiful.

I enjoyed myself and liked this festival a lot. And the next morning I didn't even have a headache. The drinks that evening were very light.

A few days later at Yuelu Academy in Changsha the carp in the pond got some of our mooncakes. They went for them with their mouths wide open.

If you travel to China in September or October, check when the Mid-Autumn Festival is. Mooncakes are everywhere then. Buy them in unexpected places too.

My best find came from a temple.

____________

Samuli Makkonen, Pleasure Advisor
Live with more pleasure.

Follow the journey:
Instagram @pleasureadvisorworld
TikTok @pleasureadvisorworld
YouTube Pleasure Advisor

This article contains affiliate links to GetYourGuide. If you book an experience through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting independent travel journalism and helping me continue creating authentic travel content as a Pleasure Advisor.