Even on the bleakest of Beijing’s winter days, many corners of the city are lit up with bright colors. These are the corners where the bīngtáng húlù vendors stand, selling their skewers of candied fruit.
The traditional form of bīngtáng húlù 冰糖葫芦 is a skewer of about half a dozen hawthorns that are dipped in a sugar syrup, which hardens into a shiny candy coating. The snack is most popular during fall and winter months, when the hawthorn and its cousin the crab apple are in season. Hawthorns, called shānzhā (山楂) in Chinese, are also used in juices, jams, even alcoholic drinks. The Chinese believe that hawthorns aid digestion, so this is one sugar-ladened treat that you shouldn’t feel guilty eating. At least, I don’t.
Did I mention that adults love this as much as kids do? It’s not uncommon to see adults going about mundane tasks like grocery shopping or commuting home, munching on a shiny fruit kebab with the nonchalantness of a Westerner sipping a cup of take-out coffee.
Bīngtáng húlù can also include hawthorns with walnuts or sesame, crab apples, mandarin oranges, grapes, dried persimmons, even bananas. It’s a simple concept that leaves room for loads of variations. The common denominator, of course, is the sugar syrup (sometimes a caramel syrup) that gets so stuck in your teeth that you stop trying to get it out. Instead, you flash that gooey smile to whomever you happen to be eating with, knowing bīngtáng húlù is too good to be just a kid’s treat.
Brings back lots of great memories. As I recall, I would eat all the candy off and leave the hawthorns.
oh my….that looks sooooo gooooood. I Love hawthorn flavored candy, but I never had the chance to try fresh ones before =(
These look amazingly yummy! I’ve never tasted hawthorns before. Are they like berries?
Lovliebutterfly – They taste more crabapples, or even apples.
These remind me of good times so much. chomping on them at Beihai park, stopping off for one from an old lady’s cart in Wangjing (near the mall). and a billion other places. Shame shanzha is banned in Australia :(
I love these! I’ve been craving them for the past month, but there’s no way to get them in Berkeley. If I get more desperate, I might try to make them myself!
This reminds me of my time living in Liaoning…The Strawberry ones were my favorite !
These are so good! My favorites were the tomatoes. :) Oh, Beijing.
Whenever I go back to China, I always always want one of these! They’ve really adapted it these days, the last time I went I had ones with plums (huge ones at that..) and strawberries, which were delicious! I love the original hawthorne ones though.
My favorite childhood treat :D
When I visited China with my family as a little girl, i remember eating off the sugar and leaving the hawthorne berries for my mom or dad to finish. Years later when a relative brought some back to the states, I realized I liked eating the actual berries too! They were a favorite between my sisters along with those green jelly tongue popsicles!
Hawthorns are sort of like crab apples, and taste like dried cherries or cranberries.
where can i find a recipe?!?! i had some when i went to china, but i cant find a recipe :(((((
Man I remember always getting one of these with the ambition to finish the whole things but I don’t think I ever did XD.
Everywhere in northern china had these. I remember always biting off the sugar and find the berries too sour to finish =P I didn’t know they are called hawthorns. I always thought they were cranberries. So this was very informative not to mention nostalgic!