---
title: "Chinese Desserts: Names, Festival Sweets and What Each One Is, From Tangyuan to Mooncakes, With Pinyin"
description: "The names of Chinese desserts and what they are: sweet soups 糖水, rice balls 汤圆, rice cakes 年糕, mooncakes 月饼, Hong Kong egg tarts and milk puddings, which dessert goes with which festival, why they are not too sweet, and 34 words with pinyin and sound."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-desserts"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 34 words

# Chinese desserts

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E7%94%9C%E5%93%81%20%E7%94%9C%E7%82%B9%20%E7%B3%96%E6%B0%B4%20%E7%BA%A2%E8%B1%86%20%E8%8E%B2%E5%AD%90%20%E9%93%B6%E8%80%B3%20%E9%85%92%E9%85%BF%20%E7%BA%A2%E8%B1%86%E6%B1%A4%20%E7%BB%BF%E8%B1%86%E6%B1%A4%20%E5%8F%8C%E7%9A%AE%E5%A5%B6%20%E8%B1%86%E8%8A%B1%20%E8%A5%BF%E7%B1%B3%E9%9C%B2%20%E8%8A%8B%E5%9C%86%20%E9%BE%9F%E8%8B%93%E8%86%8F%20%E6%9D%8F%E4%BB%81%E8%B1%86%E8%85%90%20%E5%88%A8%E5%86%B0%20%E6%B1%A4%E5%9C%86%20%E5%85%83%E5%AE%B5%20%E5%B9%B4%E7%B3%95%20%E7%B2%BD%E5%AD%90%20%E5%85%AB%E5%AE%9D%E9%A5%AD%20%E9%A9%B4%E6%89%93%E6%BB%9A%20%E9%BA%BB%E5%9B%A2%20%E7%B3%8D%E7%B2%91%20%E9%9D%92%E5%9B%A2%20%E5%8F%91%E7%B3%95%20%E6%9C%88%E9%A5%BC%20%E7%BB%BF%E8%B1%86%E7%B3%95%20%E5%87%A4%E6%A2%A8%E9%85%A5%20%E8%9B%8B%E6%8C%9E%20%E8%90%A8%E5%85%B6%E9%A9%AC%20%E8%8F%A0%E8%90%9D%E5%8C%85%20%E9%B8%A1%E8%9B%8B%E4%BB%94%20%E5%86%B0%E7%B3%96%E8%91%AB%E8%8A%A6)

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## Chinese desserts through the year

| | In Chinese | When | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| New Year rice cake | 年糕 niángāo | Chinese New Year | Sticky rice cake; 年糕 sounds like 年高, “higher every year” |
| Steamed sponge cake | 发糕 fāgāo | Chinese New Year | A fluffy cake that rises and splits on top: 发 also means to prosper |
| Eight-treasure rice | 八宝饭 bābǎofàn | New Year’s Eve | Sweet sticky rice with red bean paste and eight kinds of dried fruit and nuts |
| Sweet rice balls | 汤圆 tāngyuán | The Lantern Festival | Rice balls filled with black sesame or peanut in warm syrup; round for 团圆, the family together |
| Green rice balls | 青团 qīngtuán | Qingming, in spring | Rice balls coloured green with mugwort, filled with red bean paste |
| Sticky rice parcels | 粽子 zòngzi | The Dragon Boat Festival | Sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves: sweet with red bean or dates in the north, salty with pork in the south |
| Mung bean soup | 绿豆汤 lǜdòutāng | Summer | Sweet, cooling mung bean soup, often served cold |
| Mooncake | 月饼 yuèbing | The Mid-Autumn Festival | A rich round pastry with lotus seed paste, often with a salted egg yolk for the full moon |
| Candied haws | 冰糖葫芦 bīngtáng húlu | Winter, in Beijing | Hawthorn berries on a stick in a hard, glassy sugar shell |

## Dessert words

tián甜pǐn品

dessert; sweets

tián甜diǎn点

dessert; sweet

táng糖shuǐ水

sweet soup (Cantonese dessert)

hóng红dòu豆

red bean; adzuki bean

lián莲zǐ子

lotus seed

yín银ěr耳

white fungus; snow fungus

jiǔ酒niàng酿

fermented glutinous rice; sweet rice wine

## Sweet soups and puddings

hóng红dòu豆tāng汤

red bean soup

lǜ绿dòu豆tāng汤

mung bean soup

shuāng双pí皮nǎi奶

double-skin milk pudding

dòu豆huā花

tofu pudding; douhua

xī西mǐ米lù露

sago dessert soup

yù芋yuán圆

taro balls (dessert)

guī龟líng苓gāo膏

turtle jelly (herbal jelly)

xìng杏rén仁dòu豆fu腐

almond tofu (dessert)

bào刨bīng冰

shaved ice (dessert)

## Rice cakes and dumplings

tāng汤yuán圆

glutinous rice ball (sweet dumpling in soup)

yuán元xiāo宵

sweet glutinous rice ball (eaten at the Lantern Festival)

nián年gāo糕

New Year rice cake

zòng粽zi子

zongzi (sticky rice dumpling wrapped in leaves)

bā八bǎo宝fàn饭

eight-treasure rice pudding

lǘ驴dǎ打gǔn滚

donkey roll (glutinous rice roll with bean paste, Beijing snack)

má麻tuán团

sesame ball (fried glutinous rice ball)

cí糍bā粑

glutinous rice cake

qīng青tuán团

qingtuan (green glutinous rice ball eaten at Qingming)

fā发gāo糕

steamed sponge cake

## Pastries and street sweets

yuè月bing饼

mooncake

lǜ绿dòu豆gāo糕

mung bean cake

fèng凤lí梨sū酥

pineapple cake (Taiwanese pastry)

dàn蛋tà挞

egg tart

sà萨qí其mǎ马

sachima (Manchu fried pastry)

bō菠luó萝bāo包

pineapple bun

jī鸡dàn蛋zǎi仔

egg waffle (Hong Kong snack)

bīng冰táng糖hú葫lu芦

candied haws on a stick

## Now read them in a real story

[**十两饺子**How to order dumplings in ChineseHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-dumplings-in-chinese)

## What are the most popular Chinese desserts?

Sweet rice balls, 汤圆 (tāngyuán); mooncakes, 月饼 (yuèbing); egg tarts, 蛋挞 (dàntà); red bean soup, 红豆汤 (hóngdòu tāng); tofu pudding, 豆花 (dòuhuā); sesame balls, 麻团 (mátuán); double-skin milk pudding, 双皮奶 (shuāngpínǎi); mango pomelo sago, 杨枝甘露 (yángzhī gānlù); and pineapple cakes, 凤梨酥 (fènglísū), from Taiwan. In the street, candied haws on a stick, 冰糖葫芦 (bīngtáng húlu), and Hong Kong egg waffles, 鸡蛋仔 (jīdànzǎi).

## What is dessert called in Chinese?

甜品 (tiánpǐn) or 甜点 (tiándiǎn), sweet things. In Guangdong and Hong Kong, sweet soups are 糖水 (tángshuǐ), sugar water, eaten hot in winter and cold in summer, often as a late-night snack. A Chinese meal usually ends with fruit, 水果 (shuǐguǒ), not dessert; sweet dishes are eaten between meals, at festivals or with dim sum.

## Why are Chinese desserts not very sweet?

Many are made from beans, rice, seeds and fruit: red beans, 红豆 (hóngdòu), mung beans, lotus seeds, 莲子 (liánzǐ), snow fungus, 银耳 (yín’ěr), black sesame and sticky rice, sweetened lightly. Several are also eaten as food that is good for the body, cooling in summer or warming in winter. The best praise for a dessert in Chinese is 不太甜 (bú tài tián), not too sweet.

## What desserts are eaten at Chinese New Year?

New Year rice cake, 年糕 (niángāo), because it sounds like 年高, higher every year; steamed sponge cake, 发糕 (fāgāo), for 发, to prosper; eight-treasure rice, 八宝饭 (bābǎofàn), on New Year’s Eve; and sweet rice balls, 汤圆 (tāngyuán), at the Lantern Festival fifteen days later, round for the family together, 团圆 (tuányuán). In the north they are called 元宵 (yuánxiāo), after the festival.

## What are Hong Kong desserts called?

Double-skin milk pudding, 双皮奶 (shuāngpínǎi), from nearby Shunde; mango pomelo sago, 杨枝甘露 (yángzhī gānlù); egg tarts, 蛋挞 (dàntà); egg waffles, 鸡蛋仔 (jīdànzǎi); and pineapple buns, 菠萝包 (bōluóbāo), which have no pineapple, only a crackly sugar top that looks like one. Dessert shops also sell sago soup, 西米露 (xīmǐlù), and herbal turtle jelly, 龟苓膏 (guīlínggāo).

## How do I order dessert in Chinese?

Say 我要一碗红豆汤 (wǒ yào yì wǎn hóngdòu tāng), I’d like a bowl of red bean soup. Ask for it 热的 (rè de), hot, or 冰的 (bīng de), cold, and 少糖 (shǎo táng), less sugar, or 不要太甜 (bú yào tài tián), not too sweet. In Sichuan, cool down after spicy food with iced jelly, 冰粉 (bīngfěn).

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## More Chinese food

- [Chinese food and dish names](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-food-names)
- [Chinese breakfast](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-breakfast)
- [Chinese festivals](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-festivals)
- [Chinese tea names](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-tea-names)

Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the desserts and customs from Wikipedia’s Chinese desserts and Tong sui, and they differ by region and family.