It's traditional to celebrate by watching the full moon and eating mooncakes. While most of us prefer to buy mooncakes from local stores or bakeries, handmade ones are also gaining popularity. Shen Li went to Beijing's Grand View Garden, where visitors are trying their hands at making their own, with some unconventional moulds.

Here at Beijing's Grand View Garden, visitors can roll up their sleeves, and create their very own mooncakes.

SHEN LI BEIJING GRAND VIEW GARDEN "Mooncakes are an essential part of China's Mid-Autumn Festival as a holiday for family reunion. But one big question is, are there really many people eating the mooncakes rather than just giving them out as gifts? If you make them yourselves, that won't be a problem."

First, bean paste is stuffed carefully into special pastry dough, which is then fitted into a mould. After that, it just needs some oil coating and straight to the oven it goes.

"I've never done this before. It's great to make some mooncakes myself that I can share with my family."

These days, most mooncakes are made by mass-producing machines, churning out hundreds at a time. But here, mooncakes are individually shaped by hand, and not just any moulds, but replicas of Wadang, Wadang, also know as eaves tiles, are small accessories from classical Chinese architecture. Fixed at the end of rafters for decoration, they also shield the eaves of buildings from wind and rain.

DONG RUI, CURATOR MUSEUM OF ANCIENT POTTERY CIVILIZATION "There's a funny anecdote about the origins of making mooncakes with eaves tiles. The founder of our museum, Mr. Lu found the eaves tiles in Shanxi province, where people would use them to make pastry. When he bought them from locals, there was still traces of flour stuck to their crevices. Wadang is a treasured symbol in China's millennia-old field of architecture, with a set of rich and mystic cultural connotations. So we thought it would be very interesting and meaningful for visitors to use Wadang moulds to make mooncakes. They're able to experience traditional culture and enjoy some delicious treats in the process."

So instead of buying mass produced mooncakes this year, why not try making your own by hand? After all, it is not about the money but the care and love for friends and family that makes this festival a special one. SL, CGTN.