Ice Cream (Lüdagunr & Sanqing Tea)
Ice cream (Donkey Rolling on the Ground & Sanqing Tea) is a creative cold dessert that blends tradition and innovation, served at Ruyi Fushi located on Qianmen Street in Beijing, China. This product features flavors inspired by Donkey Rolling on the Ground, a traditional Beijing confection, and Sanqing Tea, known as a medicinal tea, making it a unique example that combines local food culture with modern ice cream. Such ice creams symbolize the expansion of a new Chinese sweets culture, catering to modern tastes while making use of traditional ingredients and flavors.
- Taste Rating
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When I put it in my mouth, it was unbelievably smooth, like silk. It's the smoothest and silkiest ice cream I've ever had in my life. The flavor inspired by the traditional Beijing confection "Lüdagunr" has no milky taste at all—its sweetness is very subtle, simply refined. The Sanqing tea one has a somewhat roasted soybean flour (kinako)-like flavor, with a richness and depth similar to Thai tea. Both are perfectly crafted delights that kept me captivated until the very last bite.
- Price
- 38 Yuan Renminbi
- Meal Date
- 9/20/2025
- Food Travel Log
- Like silk! I discovered ultra-smooth ice cream!
With every bite, I was blown away by the silky texture I’d never experienced before. You can choose two flavors, and this time I picked the traditional Beijing sweet “Lüdagun’er” and the medicinal “Sanqing tea.” Both the texture and taste were so new to me that my mind felt totally silken.
AI Gourmet Analysis
Characteristics and Background of Ice Cream (Lüdagun’er & Sanqing Tea)
The ice cream served at Ruyi Fushi on Qianmen Street in Beijing is an exceptionally unique creation featuring the traditional Beijing confection Lüdagun’er and the medicinal tea known as Sanqing tea as its flavors. This kind of ice cream is an example of a contemporary Chinese creative dessert that blends traditional Chinese sweets and tea culture with ice cream, a frozen dessert originating in the West.
About the Lüdagun’er Flavor
Lüdagun’er (lǘ dǎ gǔn) is a traditional Chinese confection that originated in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. It is made by steaming glutinous rice flour, wrapping it around sweet bean paste, and finishing it by coating it with soybean flour (kinako). Its name, which means "rolling donkey," comes from its resemblance to a donkey rolling on the ground. At local stalls and long-established confectioneries, Lüdagun’er is characterized by the subtle sweetness of bean paste and the aromatic nuttiness of soybean flour. Accordingly, this ice cream version minimizes the milky flavor, focusing on authenticity and evoking the traditional taste of Beijing's sweets.
The adaptation of Lüdagun’er into ice cream exemplifies the harmony of Beijing tradition and modern creativity, transforming a classic sticky rice confection into a chilled dessert. The gentle sweetness and roasted kinako flavors are nostalgically enjoyed not only in China but also in Greater China regions such as Taiwan and Hong Kong.
About the Sanqing Tea Flavor
Sanqing tea is a traditional Chinese medicinal tea, typically made by blending several medicinal herbs and teas such as chrysanthemum, dried tangerine peel, green tea, and mulberry leaves. Based on medicinal dietary culture that values health effects, it has been widely enjoyed for purposes such as detoxification and refreshment. In contemporary Beijing, desserts using Sanqing tea are also becoming more common.
Sanqing tea ice cream is a rare variation that combines the refreshing and slightly bitter tones of herbs with a richness reminiscent of kinako or brown sugar, thus embodying the elements of traditional Chinese tea desserts. Featuring a rich and profound flavor somewhat akin to Thai tea, it has begun to gain recognition as a type of medicinal ice cream in regions across China and in Taiwan as well.
Modern Sweets Culture and Creative Ice Creams in Beijing
In recent years, Beijing has seen many adaptations of traditional confections and local ingredients into chilled desserts such as ice cream and gelato. Especially around the historic Qianmen Street area, the trend of offering a variety of creative sweets to both tourists and locals continues. The intersection of tradition and innovation has garnered attention not only within the overseas Chinese community but also across Asian regions like Japan and Korea, fueled by the easy transition of information on social media, resulting in a global food experience unique to the present day.
The ice cream at Ruyi Fushi introduced here is a representative example of merging and elevating two distinct traditions—a humble sweet, Lüdagun’er, and the health-oriented tea culture of Sanqing tea—into a contemporary, smooth ice cream. While steeped in tradition, it is a creation that showcases the evolving possibilities of Chinese sweets through constant ingenuity and creativity.