Hainan Qingbuliang

Hainan qingbuliang is an iced sweet of coconut milk or cream base, bowls brimming with a dozen or more ingredients such as red and mung beans, barley, taro, watermelon, quail eggs, macaroni and shredded coconut, cooling and fragrant with coconut.

Qingbuliang is said to have a centuries-old history in Hainan; in 1097 the Northern Song poet Su Dongpo, exiled to the island, tasted a version made by local people and praised it warmly, helping spread its fame until it became the beloved summer sweet of Haikou's streets.

On a hot summer day a bowl of iced qingbuliang is best eaten cold, the coconut milk sweet and clear, the toppings a weave of soft and crisp; taken as dessert or a street-side afternoon cooler, it is especially common in the night market around Haikou's Qilou Old Street.

The coconut-milk base and its profusion of ingredients, served iced for the heat, are the clearest marks of Hainan qingbuliang.