月餅 / 月饼
jyut⁶ beng²
The Cantonese word for "mooncake" is 月餅 / 月饼 (jyut⁶ beng²).
月餅 / 月饼 refers to the traditional Chinese pastry typically consumed during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Meaning: Chinese pastry usually eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is a compound of 月, meaning "moon" and 餅, meaning "cake" or "pastry".
How do you pronounce it?
jyut⁶ beng²
Did you know?
- While the name implies a simple pastry, high-end Cantonese mooncakes often contain a salted duck egg yolk in the center, which represents the full moon.
- In some Cantonese-speaking regions, the word 餅 (cake/pastry) can also refer to a flat, dried piece of food like a 'rice cake' or even 'soap', showing how the term describes shape rather than just sweetness.
- During the Mid-Autumn Festival, 月餅 are often exchanged as social currency to build 'guanxi' or strategic networks between business partners and officials.
Example sentences for Cantonese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “mooncake” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
