Tanghulu
Every year as the weather cools down, Tanghulu sales start heating up on almost every street corner in the Beijing. Tanghulu, literally means “sugary gourd,” is traditionally the sugar-coated hawthorns on a stick, which looks brightly red, bearing a little sour and sweet.
The origins of Tanghulu can be traced back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). One of the imperial concubines of Emperor Xianzong was bedridden for several days. One day, an itinerant doctor was said to be able to cure the concubine. After feeling her pulse, this doctor prescribed hawthorns with crystallized sugar for the next fifteen days. The concubine duly recovered.
About 20 centimeters long, bright red in color with a perfect sweet-and-sour taste, Tanghulu is a much-loved traditional confection by both the young and old in the capital city. With people’s eating habit changing, Tanghulu can be made of various kinds of fruits, including strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, kiwifruit, or grapes, resembling a fruit kebab.
Tanghulu has the function of being good for digesting; many people now take it as a food for keeping health.
Tanghulu can be found widely along the snack street of Wangfujing; there are also street vendors who carry large straw or plastic poles with dozens of tanghulu stuck in them as they make their rounds from one neighborhood to another.
