国际英语资讯:Feature: Hong Kong-style mooncakes the apple of Vietnameses eyes_时事

国际英语资讯:Feature: Hong Kong-style mooncakes the apple of Vietnameses eyes

Ingredients imported from China's Hong Kong are made into mooncakes at a plant in Hanoi under the strict supervision of Hong Kong experts, Tho revealed, adding that there are approximately 100 Maison shops in Vietnam, predominantly in big cities.

"Mainly thanks to their quality, eye-catching design and impressive product names, Hong Kong-style mooncakes in general and Maison products in particular are selling like hot cakes, mainly at prices ranging between 500,000-800,000 Vietnamese dong (22.1-35.4 U.S. dollars) per unit," Tho said, adding that hundreds of major companies in Vietnam have bought such mooncakes for their employees.

However, the local man acknowledged that this Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of August according to lunar month (on Wednesday, Oct. 4), mooncake sales are not as robust as in previous years.

"Vietnam's economy has yet to recover, so many customers have tightened their purse strings. And I think another major reason is that Vietnam is intensifying fights against corruption and wastefulness, so fewer people are willing to buy too costly mooncakes, which are sometimes accompanied by a bottle of imported alcohol or a bag of rare tea, as gifts for others," Tho said.

For those who want to spend less but still taste Chinese flavors, online distribution channels of Hong Kong mooncakes and home-made Vietnamese versions of Hong Kong products are two feasible options.

A woman from Hanoi, who has developed broad business relations with Chinese producers and traders, but declined to be named, said last weekend that she has bought large volumes of Hong Kong mooncakes over the past two years, and then resold them in the Vietnamese market, mostly via her social media accounts.