Sour and Sweet Snack

Bingtanghulu is a traditional snack in northern China. In the past， people sold it almost every street in Beijing.

Traditional Bingtanghulu is usually made with haws and only sold in winter. The haws and the sugar outside are frozen hard because of low temperature. This makes it hard as ice and taste sour and sweet. That’s why it is called Bingtanghulu. Now， Bingtanghulu is also sold in summer. There are various tastes such as strawberry， banana and orange in addition to the traditional one.

Bingtanghulu originated from the Southern Song Dynasty. It was said that a concubine of Emperor Guangzong of Song was sick and didn’t want to eat anything. A doctor ordered that she eat 5 to 10 haws boiled with crystal sugar before dinner. In less than two weeks， she got well. Later， the practice quickly spread among the common people and they began making the healthy snack， too.

冰糖葫蘆

冰糖葫蘆是中國(guó)北方的一種傳統(tǒng)小吃。過去，北京的大街小巷四處可見賣冰糖葫蘆的小販。

傳統(tǒng)的冰糖葫蘆一般由山楂制成，只在冬天售賣。山楂和外面的那層糖衣因低溫而被凍硬，所以吃起來又酸又甜，十分堅(jiān)硬，像是在吃冰一樣，故得名“冰糖葫蘆”。現(xiàn)在，冰糖葫蘆也在夏天售賣。其種類也越來越多，除了傳統(tǒng)的山楂口味，還有草莓、香蕉、橘子等口味。

冰糖葫蘆起源于南宋。據(jù)說，皇帝宋光宗的妃子生病了，茶飯不思。一位大夫開出藥方，要她將冰糖與山楂一起煎服，每頓飯前吃五至十枚。那位妃子按此辦法服用后，不出半月就病愈了。后來這種做法傳到民間，老百姓也開始制作這種健康的小吃。

Word Bank

haw n. 山楂

various adj. 各種不同的；各種各樣的

originate v. 起源；發(fā)源

spread v. 傳播；（使）流傳