Everything You Want to Know About Tanghulu

Tanghulu is a traditional Chinese dessert with an 800-year history. Fresh, whole fruit is threaded onto a bamboo skewer and hand-glazed in a thin layer of sugar that hardens into a crisp, glass-thin crystal shell.

The result is a dessert with the perfect crunch on the outside and a burst of fresh juice on the inside — real fruit, a whisper of glaze, and a small moment of joy.

Imagine biting through a thin, crackling crystal glaze into a burst of fresh, ripe fruit. The glaze is glass-thin and crisp — a clean crunch, never thick.

Depending on the variety, you get sweet strawberry, bright citrus, juicy grape, or tart blueberry. It is a textural experience as much as a flavor one.

Not quite. Candied fruit is usually preserved, sweetened, and processed over time. Tanghulu is fresh, whole fruit hand-glazed the same day in a thin crystal glaze.

It is a dessert built around the fruit, not the sugar.

Tanghulu is fresh whole fruit in a thin crystal glaze — that's the whole recipe. No cream, no butter, no baked base.

Our core tanghulu is vegan, made without dairy, gluten, or nuts. We'll let the fruit speak for itself.

Tanghulu comes from northern China, especially Beijing, where it has been part of winter markets and festivals for 800 years — traditionally made with hawthorn and sold from street stalls strung with skewer trees.

At Olivia's Tanghulu, we honor that tradition with peak-season California fruit, same-day precision, and the care it deserves.

Olivia's Tanghulu is available across the Bay Area through pickup, weekend partner locations, larger-order delivery, and event catering.

Order pickup:
T4 Millbrae, 315 Broadway, Millbrae, CA 94030 - Wednesday through Sunday. This is where online orders are picked up.

Weekend partner locations (walk in, no online order needed):
Tuna Kahuna, 1117 Burlingame Ave, Burlingame, CA 94010 - Saturdays and Sundays
Tpumps, 985 E Hillsdale Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404 - Saturdays and Sundays

We also serve events across San Francisco, the Peninsula, South Bay, East Bay, and surrounding areas.

Yes. Delivery is available for larger orders across the Bay Area, with options tailored to distance and order size. Delivery details and windows are confirmed at checkout.

For individual orders, pickup is the primary option at T4 Millbrae, 315 Broadway, Millbrae, CA 94030 - open Wednesday through Sunday, one block from Millbrae BART/Caltrain. On Saturdays and Sundays you can also walk in at our partner locations in Burlingame and Foster City.

Visit oliviastanghulu.com, browse the collection, and add your items to cart. At checkout, select your preferred pickup location and time window.

For larger or custom orders, use the catering inquiry form or email hello@oliviastanghulu.com.

For individual pickup orders, same-day ordering is available based on current availability. Check the product pages for current pickup windows. You can also walk in at T4 Millbrae (Wednesday through Sunday), or at our Burlingame and Foster City partner locations on Saturdays and Sundays — we make a limited quantity fresh each day, so availability varies.

For delivery orders, please allow 5 business days for smaller orders and about a week for larger ones. Staffed service needs at least 1 week, and live glazing experiences 2 or more weeks - so every skewer arrives at peak freshness.

Not at this time. Tanghulu is made fresh daily and is best enjoyed the same day, so the perfect crunch and fruit quality do not hold up well in extended transit.

That is why we focus on Bay Area pickup, larger-order delivery, and event catering.

Best enjoyed the same day. After that, the fruit naturally releases moisture and the crystal glaze may soften.

For events, we time deliveries as close to serving time as possible so the texture stays at its best.

Keep tanghulu refrigerated and enjoy it the same day. Avoid humid environments which can soften the glaze faster.

For best results: refrigerate, enjoy promptly, and do not leave it in a warm car.

Three things: fruit quality, glaze precision, and same-day production.

We use peak-season fruit, hand-glaze each skewer fresh, and calibrate the glaze for a thin, crystal-clear crunch that stays light. The fruit is always the star.

Yes - our core tanghulu is vegan and made without dairy, gluten, or nuts. We use whole fruit and a pure sugar glaze with no gluten-containing ingredients and no nut products.

For specialty flavors like Milk Skin Tanghulu that contain dairy, ingredients are clearly listed on the product page.

Our lineup rotates with the seasons and includes strawberry, mandarin orange, grape, blueberry, hawthorn when available, and premium seasonal specialties.

We source peak-season fruit for the best flavor, texture, and visual finish.

Strawberry — glossy, bright, and balanced. It is the skewer most people start with, and the one they come back for.

If you are new to tanghulu, strawberry or the sampler are the easiest place to begin.

Yes. Corporate catering is one of our specialties. We offer delivery catering, staffed on-site service, and live glazing experiences for meetings, offsites, launches, and celebrations across San Francisco, the Peninsula, South Bay, and East Bay.

We cater corporate events, weddings, brand activations, milestone parties, birthdays, baby showers, school celebrations, and private gatherings of all sizes.

If you want a dessert that feels fresh, visual, and memorable, tanghulu is a strong fit.

Delivery catering has an order minimum, and a delivery fee may apply depending on distance. For live glazing or more complex programs, we may recommend a higher guest count depending on the format and event flow.

Earlier is always better, especially for larger events and peak dates. Delivery orders need about 5 business days for smaller orders and about a week for larger ones. Staffed on-site service needs at least 1 week, and live glazing experiences need 2 or more weeks.

If you have a firm date, reach out as soon as possible.

Yes. We offer live tanghulu service where fruit is glazed fresh for guests on-site, creating a polished and interactive dessert experience.

It is one of our most memorable formats for weddings, launches, and high-visibility events.

Olivia is the founder of Olivia's Tanghulu - a PhD chemist and UC Berkeley MBA who turned a moment of homesickness into a Bay Area dessert brand with a clear mission: make tanghulu the next great American dessert.

Olivia's Tanghulu is proudly Bay Area based. We serve customers through Peninsula pickup and partner locations in Millbrae, Burlingame, and Foster City, larger-order delivery across the region, and catering throughout San Francisco, South Bay, East Bay, and beyond.

The Bay Area is where the brand was built and where our community first embraced tanghulu. It is also a region that values food culture, visual experiences, and premium desserts made with intention.

For now, we are focused on serving the Bay Area exceptionally well and keeping every skewer as fresh as possible.