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中秋月饼变“味”了？
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Mooncakes acquire networking flavor
Mooncakes, a traditional delicacy gifted to families and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival, have become an important ingredient in maintaining business and work relations.
With the festival falling tomorrow, the reception areas of almost every office building are overflowing with boxes of mooncakes.
The traditional festival has become a Chinese Christmas of sorts, topping other occasions for giving or receiving gifts.
"We send presents to our clients during the Mid-Autumn Festival, rather than the Spring Festival," said Elsa Wang, who works for a public relations firm in Beijing. The company started budgeting months earlier and has been delivering mooncakes as early as a month ago.
"It doesn't matter how much a package costs.... Mooncakes are the best way to say: Let us keep in touch."
Lin Jian, a guest writer on the Financial Times Chinese website, wrote that the consumption of mooncakes has one simple purpose - to maintain relationships.
"How many mooncakes one gets measures his intangible value," Lin wrote in his column. "The more coupons you receive, the more respect you have."
The market has reacted to the increasing demand with expensive packages to lure high-end consumers.
About 250,000 tons of mooncakes were produced last year with revenue exceeding 11 billion yuan ($1.42 billion).
月饼是中秋节馈赠亲友的传统礼品，而如今，月饼已变成维持业务关系和合作关系的重要“纽带”。
明天就是中秋节了，几乎每个办公楼的前台接待处都堆满了一盒盒的月饼。
中秋传统佳节已成为中国的“圣诞节”，也变成了人们“送礼”的最佳时机。
北京一家公关公司员工Elsa Wang说：“我们都是在中秋节送礼给客户，而不是春节。”这家公司早在几个月前就开始筹划中秋送礼事宜了，一个月前就把月饼送了出去。
“月饼值多少钱没关系...它是表达‘保持联络’的最佳方式。”
英国《金融时报》中文网特约撰稿人林剑在评论中写道，送月饼的一个直接目的就是“维持关系”。
林剑在他的专栏中写道：“一个人所得到的月饼数是衡量其‘无形价值’的标准。收的礼越多，说明这个人越受尊重。”
随着这一需求的不断增长，商家纷纷在月饼的外包装上大做文章，以吸引高端消费者。
去年的月饼产量约25万吨月饼，总收益超过110亿人民币（14.2亿美元）。
Vocabulary:
high-end consumer: 高端消费者
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