Sweets

The Chinese do not eat sweet desserts, as Westerners do, at the end of their meals. They prefer fresh fruit such as apples, especially the hard, green, somewhat tart apples that are found throughout the country. They also frequently eat oranges, tangerines, pears, and grapes. In subtropical Canton they also enjoy fresh pineapple, papaya, mangos, and various melons. Such sweets as pastries and water chestnut cakes are never served as desserts; they are for the dim sum teahouse. Occasionally the Chinese will eat a sweet soup as a dinner course, perhaps a soup made from lotus seeds or gingko nuts.