Xianqian Tangyuan (Glutinous Rice Ball) Shop

In 1901 during the late Qing dynasty, the Wenzhou native Zheng Dehao opened a tangyuan shop on the busy Xianqiantou street, naming it "Zhengdeda" to mean "integrity and virtue above all," that one should value honesty and virtue in every deed; it was among Wenzhou's earliest tangyuan shops. A second shop opened nearby in 1928, and in 1958 the three stalls Zhengdeda, Huangxinfa and Zhiweiyuan were merged into today's Xianqian Tangyuan Shop.

The shop's headliner is its black-sesame glutinous rice ball, white and translucent, thin-skinned with a generous filling, smooth and chewy, much loved in Wenzhou. Recognised as a Chinese time-honoured brand, it has endured for over 120 years and carries the taste of celebration and reunion in local memory.

The balls use water-milled glutinous rice flour for the skin and a sesame filling of toasted and ground black sesame bound with lard and sugar; they are wrapped by hand and boiled fresh, prized for thin intact skin and a generous fragrant filling, showing the refinement of Wenzhou's traditional confectionery.

Xianqian Tangyuan Shop is a recognised Chinese and Zhejiang time-honoured brand.