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Austerity drive quietens traditional "mooncake gambling" in E. China
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An ongoing austerity campaign has quietened the dice games of an eastern Chinese city known for its mooncake gambling tradition during Thursday's Mid-Autumn Festival.
Following a nationwide campaign against extravagant government spending, Xiamen in Fujian Province issued a circular last month to forbid using public money to fund mooncake games known as "Bo Bing."
A popular festive activity in parts of Fujian and Taiwan, Bo Bing was initially played by tossing dice to win mooncakes as awards. Generally organized for large groups of workmates or business contacts, the game has turned extravagant in recent years with the holding of luxury junkets offering pricy gifts ranging from coupons to tablet computers.
The discipline authority in Xiamen said on Wednesday that it has launched surprise checks in restaurants, targeting mooncake games arranged by government units or institutions prior to the festival.
The campaign has brought a lull to businesses that used to thrive on the custom. On Wednesday, Xinhua reporters found unusual quiet in high-end restaurants and stores selling shopping cards as Bo Bing gifts.
"Business is sluggish during this festival with many banquet reservations canceled, the latest being a chamber of commerce scrapping a feast of over 100 tables," said a member of staff at the Xiamen Peony International Hotel.
A government worker who asked not to be named said they used to have a hard time booking banquets prior to the festival, but this year they were approached by many restaurants desperate to reverse their sales slump.
Hong Biling, head of the discipline inspection commission of Xiamen, said the clampdown aims to curb harmful practices involving government functionaries and help return the tradition to its frugal roots.
Banned practices include using public money to purchase coupons, mooncakes and other gifts, or to hold feasts and other entertainment activities in the name of Bo Bing, Hong said.
Groups using private money can still celebrate with Bo Bing.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has long been associated with corruption and extravagance with its rich gift-giving culture. In recent years, luxury varieties of the festival's specialty, mooncakes, have propped up in ornate boxes along with big-brand watches, gold coins and other goodies to make them presentable gifts to officials, bosses and even school teachers.
Since Aug. 21 this year, disciplinary authorities of the Communist Party of China have repeatedly barred officials from gifting mooncakes and other presents bought with public money.
The austerity campaign has cooled the mooncake market in the run-up to the festival, prompting pastry producers and restaurants to reinvent their high-end products to appeal to more ordinary consumers.
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