Mooncakes are dense, round pastries traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a major harvest celebration in the Chinese culture. Its ancient origins can be traced through agricultural and lunar roots dating back over a thousand years, as moon worship and harvest celebrations were established practices and rites with pastries are evolved over time. The one popular historical legend (which my late grandfather always recount during our family gathering for the festival), links mooncakes to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Rebel groups are said to have hidden messages inside mooncake-like pastries to coordinate an uprising against Mongol rulers, using the pastries as covert communication for the rebellion that ultimately helped restore Han Chinese rule.

Beyond their rich, sweet filling and golden crust, mooncakes carry deep symbolic meaning rooted in family, unity, and gratitude. The circular form symbolizes reunion and completeness, reflecting the full moon and the gathering of family members. Classic fillings such as lotus seed paste, red bean, and salted egg yolk carry symbolic associations—lotus seeds for purity and fertility, egg yolks as representations of the moon and prosperity. Mooncake tops often feature characters for “longevity,” “harmony,” or the name of the bakery, further conveying good wishes. Therefore, mooncakes are often presented as gifts to relatives, friends, business associates, and hosts as exchanging mooncakes is a culturally important way to express respect, gratitude, and to strengthen social bonds.

The evolution of mooncake varieties has expanded throughout Asia and each region or country has its own unique design, playing with flavor and culture from their land. In this article we will explore the various mooncakes in my illustration artwork.

As we approach the 15th and last of Lunar New Year, which is also Lantern Festival, I thought I’d showcase the previous years’ collection along with the traditions and stories they hold.

The 2026 Lunar New Year collection comprises of two designs, the Vietnamese bánh chưng and blooming florals that represents the Spring Festival.

This year we wanted to design greeting cards for the Vietnamese Tết, which led us to discover a traditional dish called the bánh chưng along with auspicious florals that embodies symbolic meaning to the festival. We posted a sneak peek of the photoshoot on Instagram and some of our followers wanted a design of the Chinese auspicious florals too so we included it. Below are each card design along with the traditions behind the illustrations.

When we brainstormed to create a Chinese wedding card, I was planning my own wedding celebration and a part of the day was the wedding tea ceremony. While jumping down the rabbit hole and getting knee-deep into my heritage, I had to do a lot of research into this traditional ceremony and discover all the customs and logistics of the ceremony, which then a lightbulb switched on in my mind- “Why don’t I showcase these onto a card for family and friends to send to congratulate the couple, as there’s nothing more significant than this ceremony for our culture?”.