Chinese desserts are sweet foods and dishes that are served with tea

Chinese tea

The practice of drinking tea has had a long history in China, having originated there. The Chinese drink tea during many parts of the day such as during meals for good health or for simple pleasure.-History:...

, along with meals or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...

. The desserts encompass a wide variety of ingredient

Ingredient

An ingredient is a substance that forms part of a mixture . For example, in cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Many commercial products contain a secret ingredient that is purported to make them better than competing products...

s commonly used in East Asian cuisine

Asian cuisine

Asian cuisine styles can be broken down into several tiny regional styles that have roots in the peoples and cultures of those regions. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with its origins in Imperial China and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula; Southeast Asian...

s such as powdered or whole glutinous rice

Glutinous rice

Glutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa or Oryza glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, and pearl rice, and pulut) is a...

, sweet bean paste

Sweet bean paste

Sweet bean paste is a food ingredient used in several Asian cuisines. Within Chinese cuisine, it is primarily used as a filling for sweet desserts and Chinese pastry.- Production :...

s, and agar

Agar

Agar or agar-agar is a gelatinous substance derived from a polysaccharide that accumulates in the cell walls of agarophyte red algae. Throughout history into modern times, agar has been chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Asia and also as a solid substrate to contain culture medium...

. Due to the many Chinese cultures and the long history of China

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

, there are a great variety of desserts of many forms.

Bing

Bing (餅) are baked wheat flour based confections, these are either similar to the short-pastry crust of western cuisine or flaky like puff pastry, the latter of which is often known as su (酥). The preferred fat used for bing is usually lard

Lard

Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...

. One of the more commonly known bings are the moon cake, sun cake and wife Cake.

Candies

Chinese candies and sweets, called táng (糖), are usually made with cane sugar, malt sugar, and honey. These sweets often consists of nuts or fruits that are mixed into syrup whole or in pastes to flavour or give the candies their textures. Tanghulu, dragon's beard candy

Dragon's beard candy

Dragon's beard candy is a handmade traditional art of Ancient China. It is also a traditional Chinese sweet similar to spun sugar, which can be found in many Chinese communities...

, and White Rabbit Creamy Candy

White Rabbit Creamy Candy

White Rabbit Creamy Candy is a brand of candy manufactured by Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food, Ltd. in The People's Republic of China.- Background :...

 are a some examples of this category.

Gao

Gao or Guo (糕/粿) are rice based snacks that are typically steamed and may be made from glutinous or normal rice. In Fukien

Min Nan

The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....

 speaking Chinese populations, these are known as Kuei, which are based on the pronunciation of "粿". These rice based snacks have a wide variety of textures and can be chewy, jelly-like, fluffy or rather firm and unlike bings very different from western pastries. Various types of gaos include Nian gao

Nian gao

Niángāo, Year cake or Chinese New Year's cake is a food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is available in Asian supermarkets and from health food stores. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year...

, Bai Tang Gao

White sugar sponge cake

White sugar sponge cake is a type of Chinese pastry. It is one of the most common pastries in Hong Kong. Overseas, however, it is much more rare in Chinatown bakery shops....

, Tangyuan and Ang Ku Kueh

Red Tortoise Cake

Red tortoise cake, translated in Hokkien as "Ang Ku Kueh, 红龟糕" , is a small round or oval shaped Chinese pastry with soft sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet filling in the centre....

.

Ices

Shaved ice

Bàobing

Baobing , called tsua-bing in Taiwanese Hokkien, is a Taiwanese shaved ice dessert very common in Taiwan. It is especially popular during the hot summer months there as an inexpensive and healthy way to enjoy something cool and refreshing....

 desserts (刨冰, bào bīng) with sweet condiments and syrup is common eaten as a dessert in Chinese culture. Ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

 is also commonly available throughout China.

Jellies

Chinese jellies are known collectively in the language as ices (凍 or 冰). Many jelly desserts are traditionally set with agar and are flavored with fruits, though gelatin

Gelatin

Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...

 based jellies are also common in contemporary desserts. Some Chinese jellies, such as the grass jelly

Grass jelly

Grass jelly, or Leaf jelly, is a jelly-like dessert found in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It is sold in cans or packets in Asian supermarkets.-Preparation:...

 and the aiyu jelly

Aiyu jelly

Aiyu jelly , known as ice jelly in Singapore , is a jelly made from the gel from the seeds of a variety of fig found in Taiwan and East Asian countries of the same climates and latitudes...

 set by themselves.

Soups

Chinese dessert soups (湯 or 糊) typically consists of sweet and usually hot soups and custards, and are collectively known as tongsui in Cantonese. Some of these soups are made with restorative properties in mind, in concordance with traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

. A commonly eaten dessert soup is douhua

Douhua

Douhua or doufuhua is a Chinese dessert made with very soft tofu. It is also referred to as tofu pudding and soybean pudding.-History:...

.