Makati Shangri-La’s Filipino Take on the Mid-Autumn Mooncake
When we think of the Mid-Autumn Festival, we think of reunions. Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, it grew from ancient Chinese harvest traditions into one of the calendar’s great occasions for gathering, marked, of course, by the full moon and the exchange of our beloved mooncakes.
Folklore would only deepen its meaning, from stories of Chang’e on the moon to the disputed Yuan-era tale of rebels hiding messages inside the pastries. In the Philippines, Filipino-Chinese families mark the season through family dinners, mooncake gifting, and pua tiong chiu. Today, mooncakes circulate widely as gifts among friends, clients, and colleagues.
This month, Makati Shangri-La, Manila gives that tradition a fresh local touch through its 2026 Mid-Autumn collection. It pairs together Shang Palace mooncakes and gift hampers with a collaboration featuring Philippine chocolatier AURO.
The homegrown tree-to-bar chocolate maker has spent years placing Filipino cacao in unexpected company, from custom creations for Philippine Airlines and Japanese-inflected bars with Mitsukoshi Fresh to four-hands dinnerd built around its chocolate. More recently, it partnered with Filipino pastry chef Nouel Catis on SNA’AP, turning the Dubai chocolate phenomenon into Philippine single-origin cacao and an ube-baklava Manila counterpart. Mid-Autumn Collection mooncakes offer an especially fitting choice for the chocolatemaker.
The Shang Palace x AURO Collaboration Box captures this convergence between Chinese tradition and Filipino taste. Priced at PHP 3,088 nett, it contains six mooncakes in two flavors: Black Sesame & Black Pepper Chocolate and AURO Ube Lumpia. The latter places one of the Philippines’ most recognizable flavors inside a format with centuries of cultural history, while AURO’s chocolate brings another distinctly local element into the mix.
In addition, the hotel has also prepared three larger hampers. Priced at PHP 4,888 nett, Moonlight combines mini mooncakes with pastries, walnuts, and savory accompaniments. Meanwhile, Harmony, priced at PHP 6,888 nett, adds AURO dark chocolate and premium Chinese tea. The PHP 8,888 nett Abundance hamper, on the other hand, adds to the selection with Shang Palace XO Sauce and a bottle of house red wine.
The collection will be available through September 25, which also marks this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival. More information here.
FAQs
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 25, 2026, corresponding to the 15th day of the eighth month in the traditional lunar calendar.
Mooncakes symbolize completeness, reunion, and togetherness. Their round shape reflects the full moon traditionally associated with family gatherings during the festival.
Makati Shangri-La is offering handcrafted mooncakes from Shang Palace, including a special collaboration with AURO featuring Black Sesame & Black Pepper Chocolate and AURO Ube Lumpia flavors.
The Shang Palace x AURO Collaboration Box is priced at PHP 3,088 nett and includes six mooncakes in two flavors.
The hotel is offering three hampers: Moonlight at PHP 4,888 nett, Harmony at PHP 6,888 nett, and Abundance at PHP 8,888 nett, with selections ranging from mooncakes and pastries to tea, chocolate, XO sauce, and wine.