Quick Answer
What are Chinese wedding cookies?
Xi bing, often called Chinese wedding cookies or wedding cakes, are boxed pastries — commonly a selection of baked goods with fillings like lotus seed paste, red bean, or nuts — given out by the couple's families to relatives, friends, and colleagues before the wedding to formally announce the marriage, particularly common in Taiwan.
Last updated:
Last updated:
What are Chinese wedding cookies?
Also called: xi bing, wedding cakes, Chinese wedding biscuits.
Before a Taiwanese or Chinese wedding invitation ever gets sent, there is often a box of cookies — xi bing, a selection of sweet baked pastries handed out to relatives, neighbours, and colleagues as the announcement that a couple is getting married. Receiving a box is, in itself, the invitation news; not everyone who gets one is necessarily invited to the wedding itself.
What xi bing boxes typically include
- •An assortment of baked pastries, commonly with fillings like lotus seed paste, red bean paste, or mixed nuts.
- •Packaged in a decorated box, often marked with the Double Happiness symbol or the couple's names.
- •Distributed by both families to relatives, friends, neighbours, and colleagues in the weeks before the wedding.
- •Functions as a wedding announcement in its own right — some recipients receive cookies as a courtesy notice without being invited to the ceremony or banquet itself.
Planning notes
- •Order xi bing well ahead of the wedding, since distribution needs to happen before the wedding date, not on the day itself.
- •Agree with both families on the recipient list in advance, and be clear about which recipients are also being invited to the wedding.
- •Factor the cost and quantity into your overall wedding budget early, since large extended families and workplaces can mean sizeable order volumes.
Send the news to everyone, invited or not
Weddingkart's WhatsApp announcements let you send a warm heads-up to your wider circle, alongside or instead of a physical box of wedding cookies.
See WhatsApp announcements →Frequently Asked Questions
Is receiving Chinese wedding cookies the same as being invited to the wedding?
Not necessarily — xi bing often functions as a courtesy announcement to a wider circle than the actual wedding guest list, so some recipients receive cookies without a formal invitation.
What fillings are common in Chinese wedding cookies?
Common fillings include lotus seed paste, red bean paste, and mixed nuts, though exact varieties differ by region and bakery.
Is this tradition common everywhere in the Chinese-speaking world?
It is especially associated with Taiwan, though similar cookie or cake gifting customs exist in other Chinese communities under different names and formats.
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By Mayank JaiswalLast updated