MANILA -- The Mid-Autumn Festival has become one of the most celebrated occasions in the Philippines, a moment for family reunion and relaxation.

For Elaine Chong, owner of a Chinese restaurant selling mooncake all-year-round in Manila, capital of the Philippines, the key takeaway of this year's festival is, no matter how severe the coronavirus pandemic is, her mooncake business will thrive.

The turnover of Chong's mooncake shop, a time-honored brand established in 1985 in the world's oldest Chinatown, remains sunken and precariously unstable, with once long-waiting-queue sales pattern upended by the pandemic.

Despite the sales challenge, Chong, in her 60s, still strictly abides by her mooncake-making standard over the years, carefully selecting ingredients to present the best quality to her customers.

"I treat every mooncake as if it were the last one I make in my life. The pandemic brings too many uncertainties to our life. Making and selling mooncakes is my way of conveying a message to my customers: Keep a fighting spirit. Mooncakes must go on, and so does our life," Chong said.

For thousands of years, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, when the moon is full and brightest. Often known as the Mooncake Festival and second in importance only to the Chinese New Year, it falls on Sept. 21 this year.

Chong said among the best-preserved customs of the festival are watching the full moon and tasting mooncakes, both with family and friends. Hence, mooncakes gave the Filipinos a chance to have a deeper look into Chinese culture.

"What I always tell my customers is that the Chinese believe the round shape of the moon and the mooncake embody reunion and harmony. Therefore, I suggest they cut and share the mooncake into different slices according to the number of their family members. They are all about the love for families, longing for peace, harmony, and fondness of reunion, which are the keys of the Mid-Autumn Festival," Chong said.

Moreover, Chong's mooncake, the traditional pastry that has maintained the authentic flavor for years, observes its unique twist in the Philippines and becomes a window of cross-cultural exchange.

Domingo Ernera, 55, a chef who has worked for Chong for more than 30 years, said their traditional fillings include lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, salted egg yolk, and five kinds of kernels.

One day, Ernera said he accidentally added pili nuts, indigenous produce from Sorsogon City, southeast of Manila, often dubbed the world's hardest nut to crack. It turned out to be a perfect mix of authentic and exotic flavors.

Indeed, the mooncake has found its way to the Philippines' dining tables.

"More and more Filipinos prefer having a mooncake for afternoon tea because the sweetness of mooncake neutralizes the bitterness of coffee, making them a perfect match for the taste," Chong said.