SHANGHAI joined Beijing and Guangzhou yesterday in sending mooncakes to Chinese peacekeepers working in war-torn countries.

The three cities all started to mail the traditional sweet at 3:30pm yesterday via the county's EMS postal service.

Shanghai delivered 1,000 boxes of the cakes from the city's EMS & International Mail Office in Minhang District to seven countries including Lebanon and Liberia, where Chinese soldiers are stationed as United Nations peacekeeping troops.

"There are more than 2,000 Chinese peacekeepers abroad now who have been away from home for an extended period," said Hu Shiyun, a spokesman for Shanghai Post.

"The mooncakes have been chosen to suit the postal regulations in those countries, to ensure all the peacekeepers will receive their mooncakes before the Mid-Autumn Festival," he said.

The mooncakes, a traditional delicacy eaten during the annual Mid-Autumn Festival that falls on September 25 this year, are usually given to wish the recipients well.

China Post was praised last year for sending mooncakes to peacekeepers in Lebanon with the help of the country's Foreign Ministry.

"All the Chinese soldiers abroad said they were eager to eat the mooncakes from home at the festival, so we decided to mail the special dessert to all of them this year," Hu said.

China to date has dispatched more than 7,000 people to take part in 16 peacekeeping missions with the UN.

Eight Chinese soldiers have been killed during China's 16-year peacekeeping history, which has included stints in Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Lebanon.

China EMS began to offer a "Homesick Mooncakes Service" in 2004, helping people send greetings to parents, relatives and friends in other places at the Mid-Autumn Festival.