Cut cake
Cut cake, also maren candy (玛仁糖), maren (麻仁), or qiēgāo, is a confectionery made with candied fruit, corn syrup, flour and nuts.[1] It is a traditional snack of the Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang Hotan. Cut cake is made in large blocks, and sold by cutting slices from the block, hence the name "cut cake".
Cut cake bought from Uyghur pedlars has developed a bad reputation because of the practice of cutting slices much larger than requested, followed by insistence on purchase of the entire piece.[1]
In December 2012, the "Sky-high Price Cut Cake Incident" in Yueyang resulted from a local government post on Sina Weibo, describing the government's response to a public brawl involving cut cake pedlars and locals.
Yueyang Sky-high Price Cut Cake Incident
On 3 December 2012 the Yueyang Public Security Bureau posted a report on Sina Weibo about a brawl involving locals and Uyghur pedlars which ended with two people injured and the destruction of pedlars' product. The post said that one local villager was detained, while the Uyghur pedlars were reimbursed CN¥200,000.[2] The post resulted in a flood of internet commentary resentful of the favouritism shown to minority groups, exemplified by what was considered the exorbitant reimbursement price offered to the pedlars.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 Ramzy, Austin (5 December 2012). "Don't Let Them Eat Cake: How Ethnic Tensions in China Explode on the Street". Time. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ↑ Guo Kai (6 December 2012). "Cashing in on fearful governments". Global Times. Retrieved 19 December 2012.