In the heat of summer, sweet drinks are the best way to stay hydrated and quench your thirst in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

Plum soup

In the memories of many Wuxi locals, plum soup is always stored in a stainless steel pot wrapped in a quilt and carried by an aged bicycle. It costs just a couple of coins.

Mung bean soup

Cold mung bean soup. [Photo/WeChat account: news-wuxixinwen]

There are two kinds of traditional mung bean soup – cold and warm. Cold mung bean soup features multiple ingredients such as mung beans, glutinous rice, candied melon, candied dates, raisins, and kidney beans. It can be eaten for dessert or as a midday meal.

A great way to beat the heat, warm mung bean soup is made by brewing just mung beans and lilies.

Lotus-seed sweet soup

Lotus-seed sweet soup. [Photo/WeChat account: news-wuxixinwen]

Tender lotus seeds can be eaten directly as snacks, while dried lotus seeds are usually made into sweet soup by boiling together with snow fungus. The soup is part of a standard afternoon tea in summer with mung bean soup.

Sweet fermented rice wine

Sweet fermented rice wine. [Photo/WeChat account: news-wuxixinwen]

With a light sweetness and slight alcohol content, millennium-old sweet fermented rice wine is the most popular sweet drink in summer. But be careful about controlling your intake and not getting too drunk.