Chinese confectionery has its own deep history, its own textures, and its own idea of what a sweet should taste like — less of a pure sugar hit, more of a layered sour, salty and fruity balance. Here is a starting point for anyone curious.
White Rabbit: the sweet with an edible wrapper
Made since 1943 by the Shanghai-based Guan Sheng Yuan food company, White Rabbit is a soft milk-based chew wrapped in genuinely edible rice paper that dissolves as you eat it, a feature almost no Western sweet uses. It became one of China's most widely exported confectionery brands and has had several nostalgic pop-culture crossover moments over the decades, including flavoured collaborations with other consumer brands.
Haw flakes: hawthorn fruit, pressed and dried
Haw flakes are made from the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn tree (shan zha), pressed into thin, tart-sweet discs and stacked into a paper tube that looks a little like a small roll of coins. They have long been treated as a digestive aid as much as a snack, a dual role that is fairly common across Chinese confectionery.
Preserved and dried fruit sweets
A large part of Chinese confectionery is built around preserved fruit rather than pure sugar: salted dried plums (suan mei) and preserved tangerine peel (chenpi) are both closer to a savoury-sour snack than a sweet in the British sense, reflecting a traditional preference for balancing sour, salty and sweet rather than leaning on sugar alone.
Sesame and peanut brittle for the new year
Sesame candy and peanut brittle (hua sheng tang) are traditional treats strongly associated with Lunar New Year gifting, playing a similar cultural role to the sweets the UK associates specifically with Christmas. If it has left you curious to try something outside the usual British repertoire in a small quantity first, pick and mix is the easiest way to experiment.
Frequently asked questions
What is White Rabbit Candy?
A soft milk chew from Shanghai, made since 1943, wrapped in edible rice paper that dissolves in the mouth.
What are haw flakes?
Thin, tart discs made from Chinese hawthorn fruit, sold stacked in a paper tube.
Are Chinese sweets very different from British ones?
Yes — Chinese confectionery favours preserved fruit and sour-salty-sweet balance, where British sweets lean on boiled sugar, jelly and liquorice.