Qing Pu Liang in Hainan ● Famous Cold Dessert with Coconut Goes Back 2000 Years 海南 清補涼

The ten days I was in Hainan was unbearably hot and humid nearly every day 🥵

So we ended up drinking a lot of young coconut water. Coconuts are a big thing in Hainan, besides Wenchang chicken 😁 Coconuts are everywhere on this tropical island.

They even have a statue of someone hacking a coconut at the Wenchang Old Town shophouses.

It's a scene we see everywhere in Hainan.

So, they have this cold watery dessert called qing pu liang 清補涼 which you will find everywhere in Hainan. More ubiquitous than famous Wenchang chicken and Bao Luo fen beef noodle.

It's a lot like Singapore / Malaysia bubur cha cha but with more ingredients. There's boiled green bean, red bean, barley, groundnut, grass jelly, dates, coconut pulp, yam, sweet potato, longan, quail egg, macaroni, and more (depending on the shop or stall).

Instead of only coconut milk as in bubur cha cha, Hainanese qing pu liang has options of coconut water or coconut milk 💃 😬 It is so refreshing on a hot day. At night, it is a good supper, if we don't want anymore rice or noodles. 

Price about RMB10 in 2023.

(There's also a version of qing pu liang with just brown sugar water like Singapore / Malaysia cheng thng.)

According to legend qing pu liang was created during the Qin dynasty era (221 - 207 BC). Qin general Zhao Tuo 赵陀 was sent to conquer the southern territories (today's Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and northern Vietnam).    

Zhao Tuo's physician concocted a dish of mixed grains and sugar water to cool down and energise the bodies of troops from north China who were not used to the south's hot humid climate. It was certainly no summer vacation for Zhao Tuo's soldiers.    

It is said that it was Zhao Tuo who named the dish qing pu liang which literally means "clearing, strengthening and cooling" as in clearing the system, strengthening and cooling the body.    

Today, qing pu liang is a life saver for tourists while enjoying a dish that goes back over 2200 years 😄

Side note: When the Qin dynasty (the first unified kingdom of China) fell in 207 BC, chaos broke out in the Qin kingdom in which the territory of Yue was a part. Zhao Tuo took the opportunity to declare his own independent Yue kingdom, which lasted for 92 years and five generations.

The domain of Yue kingdom stretched from today's Fujian province through Guangdong, Guangxi, down to the middle of today's Vietnam. Its capital city was in Panyu 番禺区, a district in today's Guangzhou city. 

In 333 BC, the Han dynasty finally subdued the Yue kingdom, thus incorporating it into China till today. 

So much history in a cold dessert.

Today, some qing pu liang come with Korean style shaved ice, scoops of commercial ice cream or ice cubes. I only like old school qing pu liang with either chilled coconut water or coconut milk.

I can't decide between coconut water or coconut milk as my favourite in Hainan as Hainanese coconut milk is light and not overly sweet nor rich. However, I won't enjoy it with the thick rich type of coconut milk we get in Singapore / Malaysia (as it is too jelak or rich).

Qing pu liang stalls are everywhere in Hainan and there are even large qing pu liang restaurants.

I won't need to urge you to try qing pu liang in Hainan as you will not miss it when you are in Hainan and you will not want to miss it while you are there 😋

You will thirst for it like those soldiers from the north more than 2200 years ago 😄

Written by Tony Boey on 29 May 2023