The first Tanghulu Snack Festival kicks off in Huacai Town, Jiulong Bay, a tourist resort combining flower exhibitions with a variety of other attractions, in Wuxi's Binhu district on Jan 18. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Huacai Town in Jiulong Bay, a tourist resort combining flower exhibitions with a variety of other attractions in Wuxi's Binhu district, opened its first Tanghulu Snack Festival on Jan 18, boasting a string of mouthwatering sweet snacks that attracted both locals and tourists.

Visitors to the fair were treated to various tanghulu, a traditional snack with sugar coated haws and fruit and vegetables on a stick noted for its bright colors and creative shapes.

People buy tanghulu, a traditional Chinese snack made from sugar coated haws and fruit or vegetables on a stick, during a tanghulu festival in Huacai Town, Wuxi’s Binhu district. [Photo/wxrb.com]

In celebration of the coming traditional Chinese New Year, the festival was also decorated by red lanterns.

A tanghulu master named Li Chuanbing, who comes from North China, was surprised to see the snack popular in cities like Wuxi.