The Changjing mooncake a Suzhou-style crisp, flaky pastry. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxishilvyouju]

The mooncake making technique in ancient Changjing town, Jiangyin, a county-level city in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, is one of the city's intangible cultural heritage items.

Ancient Changjing Street is packed with mooncake workshops where visitors can observe how to make a Changjing mooncake in an ancient way.

Fifty-six ancient buildings stand on both sides of the Jingshui River in Changjing town. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxishilvyouju]

The Changjing mooncake is a Suzhou-style crisp, flaky pastry with many fillings, including sweetened bean paste, walnut kernels, shelled melon-seed, green plum, and candied white gourd.

There is an anecdote about the Changjing mooncake. During the Guangxu Period (1875-1909) of the Qing Dynasty, prime minister Weng Tonghe ate Changjing mooncakes on his way to visit his parents and was impressed by its delicious taste. Weng brought them to the empress dowager and emperor who also loved the snack and ordered Changjing to send mooncakes every Mid-Autumn Festival.

Children in hanfu pose for a photo on ancient Changjing Street. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxishilvyouju]

Since then, the Changjing mooncake has become famous around the country. Each year around the Mid-Autumn Festival, Changjing town is crowded with tourists who flock to the town to try the Changjing mooncake.

Changjing town is a typical Jiangnan water town with the ancient Jingshui River running through it. On both sides of the river are 56 buildings built in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911).