Tanghulu

Tanghulu also called bingtanghulu, is a traditional Northern Chinese snack of candied Crataegus pinnatifida, also known as mountain hawthorn, Chinese haw, Chinese hawthorn, Chinese hawberry, or shanzha in Mandarin Chinese. It consists of fruits covered in hard candy on bamboo skewers which are approximately 20 cm long. People often mistake tanghulu for regular candied fruits; however, they are coated in a hardened sugar syrup. This sweet and sour treat has been made since the Song Dynasty and remains popular throughout northern China.

The two common names for the confection literally mean "sugar bottle gourd" and "rock sugar bottle gourd," respectively. The "sugar" or "rock sugar" refers to the sugar coating, while the "bottle gourd" refers to the slight resemblance of the snack to the shape of a gourd.

Chinese hawthorn is the traditional fruit used for the skewering, but in recent times vendors have also used various other fruits, such as cherry tomatoes, mandarin oranges, strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, kiwifruit, bananas, or grapes. The pits and seeds of the hawthorn are emptied out and are commonly filled with sweet red bean paste before being skewered and dipped.