Move over Turkish ice cream, now it is time for some Chinese ice cream. Sold at the country&rsquos historic and cultural sites, these ice creams at first glance appear to be a souvenir that tourists pick up at well-known tourist attractions but soon you will see these are ice creams shaped like a memento.
Sold in flavours from chocolate to strawberry to tiramisu among others, the ice creams are shaped like an architectural piece or an artefact or even characters, depending on which attraction or monument you are visiting.
From chocolate ice creams shaped like the terracotta soldiers found at the mausoleum of China&rsquos first emperor Qin Shi Huang to the Yellow Crane Tower of Wuhan, from the Dayan Pagoda to Kunming&rsquos Jacaranda trees to statues of auspicious beasts seen at the Forbidden City, from Nanchang&rsquos Tengwang Pavilion to the Badaling section of the Great Wall, the range of ice creams and sorbets being sold at the local gift shops are mind boggling indeed. In many places, tourists can also be seen posing with their ice creams in front of the original.
Museums and other cultural institutions are also known to roll out limited edition products. The People&rsquos Daily Online of China reported that Sanxingdui Museum in southwest China&rsquos Sichuan province rolled out 1,200 ice cream bars in the shape of two millennia-old bronze masks unearthed from the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins. The creative products became a massive hit and quickly sold out.
Not all the creative pieces of frozen treat from all the places have received rave reviews by way of taste or similarity with the original but the designer ice creams are definitely a rage in China.
Some museums have also started experimenting beyond ice creams. The People&rsquos Daily Online of China reported that the Hubei Provincial Museum introduced mango-flavored mousse cakes featuring a pattern of the Sword of GouJian, chocolate cakes in the shape of a chime bell, a treasure dating back to the Warring States Period (475 B.C.-221 B.C.), etc.
While the world will have to wait until international borders open and travel restrictions are eased further, people in China seem to be enjoying their range of desserts and enjoying them too.