There's quite a large variety of treats and desserts in China (more than you can imagine), so here are some of the most common ones!
Almond jelly/tofu - 杏仁豆腐 - xìngréndòufu
Despite the name, almond jelly doesn't actually have almonds in it. Almond jelly is made from gelatin and almond milk, although some recepies use dairy milk instead.
Glutinous rice balls - 汤圆 - tāngyuán
These rice balls are made from glutinous rice balls with a sweet filling, such as red bean paste (a pretty popular filling in desserts, I've been fooled more than once when purchasing what I assumed to be a chocolate filled pastry).
Red bean buns - 豆沙包 - dòushābāo
One of my favorite desserts so far. These are steamed buns with a sweet red bean paste filling that I'd definitely recommend.
Egg custard bun - 流沙包 - liúshābāo
A sweet and savory bun, with a lava-like egg yolk filling. A pretty interesting dessert, as it's both sweet and savory.
Pumpkin cake - 南瓜饼 - nánguābǐng
I haven't tried this yet, but it definitely looks good. A fried and crunchy cake with a sweet filling such as red bean paste.
Eight treasure rice pudding - 八宝饭 -bābǎofàn
This is a pretty popular dessert, especially during the Lunar New Year. It gets this name becase of the toppings, which are eight or more different types of dried fruits and nuts arranged on top of the sweet rice, with (once again) red bean paste.
Hawthorn stick/ Candied Haws/ Sugar coated haws/ Bingtanghulu - 冰糖葫芦 - bīngtánghúlu
This treat has quite a few translations and you may have probably already seen it. This is basically candied fruit covered with a sweet, crunchy and sugary syrup. Traditionally, Hawthorn is used but other fruits such as grapes, strawberries and oranges are also popular options.
Sachima - 沙琪玛 - shāqímǎ
I haven't tried this snack yet, but it looks quite fascinating. Sachima is made from fried batter stuck together with a sugary syrup, with an interesting texture.
Sesame balls - 芝麻球 - zhīmaqiú
Similar to the rice glutinous balls, this treat is also made from glutinous rice flour with varying fillings including lotus seeds, mung bean and red beans, and sesame seeds.
Water chestnut cake
A sweet pan-fried cake made from chinese water chestnut, with a unique semi-transparent appearance.
Wintermelon puff/ Wife cake/ Sweetheartcake - 老婆餅 - lǎopóbǐng
This cake has many names, mainly because it has several different origin stories, each more fascinating than the next. This dessert is a flaky pastry with wintermelon, almond (not red bean this time!) paste and sesame filling.
Fortune cake - 发糕 - fāgāo
Not a fortune cookie! This is a spongy steamed cupcake cake
commonly made for the New Lunar Year celebrations and occasionally other events. They're usually a white-ish or brown-ish color, but they're often dyed bright colors to add extra festivity.
Mooncake - 月饼 - yuèbǐng
This is a pretty well-known dessert, commonly prepared for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are smallish steamd/fried (depends on the region) cakes with a sweet filling that can also sometimes have an egg yolk inside.
Osmanthus cake - 桂花糕 - guìhuāgāo
This is a unique traditional pastry made from glutinous rice flour, honey and osmanthus. This cake has a really interesting texture, as it's quite dense but also airy in a way? I'd definitely recommend trying it, as it's not super sweet and goes really well with tea.
Fujian Tulou 福建土楼 "Fujian earthen buildings" are rural dwellings unique to the Hakka people in the mountainous areas in Fujian province, China. The Tulou dwelling was featured in Mulan (2020).
They were mostly built between the 12th and the 20th centuries. Most of them can house up to 800 people.
Chinese guardian beasts that were placed on rooftops to guard the house and scare away the evil spirits (fun fact: this cultural practice was spread to Okinawa/Ryukyu from China)
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