The 'Jingbajian' we eat now is actually an improved version of the traditional imperial pastry called the 'big eight', and each one of them symbolizes one different meaning, in terms of happiness, wealthy, long-lived and good marriage. Back in the days, these cakes play an important role on the table, people see it as a great gift which is noble and has a cultural meaning, one for special occasion.

Jingbajian (the eight-set Beijing style pastry), known as a traditional Chinese cake which Jing is referring Beijing and Bajian means eight pieces. It was originally made from the imperial kitchen since the Qing dynasty and then spread out to the public as the time passed by. People use date, plum, raisin, rose, red bean paste, sugar, banana also with salt and pepper for stuffing, and the mixture of flour, oil, water for wrapping, then bake into particular shapes.

The recent Jingbajian besides those pretty packages, the way of making these cakes has also improved. People now combined some of the western method in using green, health and nutrition ingredients to make the cake much better. And wish people a good fortune and life.

Source: digplanet.com