People in Guangdong like to finish a meal with a bowl of tong sui (sweet soup) before calling it a day, and visitors to Shenzhen can find plenty of great dessert shops too. Here are eight tong sui and dessert shops that genuinely operate in Shenzhen and have a solid reputation among locals, organised by the three checkpoints of Luohu, Futian and Nanshan (Shenzhen Bay). From long-established names in Shekou to trendy little shops in Nantou Ancient Town, all come with Amap navigation links so you won't get lost.
🥭 Baicaotang Herbal Tea Shop (Shekou Branch) — the popular old name for mango pomelo sago
Baicaotang Herbal Tea Shop has been open in Shekou for over thirty years. It started out as a herbal tea shop selling a family recipe, but what really made its name is the signature mango pomelo sago: big chunks of fresh mango with coconut milk, sago and pomelo sacs, generous in portion, sweet, tangy and icy. Besides the mango pomelo sago, the turtle jelly and herbal tea are also made the traditional way. The shop stays open until 2am, so even if you want a sweet bowl during a late-night snack run it is still open. Weekends usually mean a queue; to save time you can order ahead on the WeChat mini-programme "Baicaotang Herbal Tea Shop".
Address: 207 Shekou New Street, Nanshan District (opposite Shekou Cinema); about a 5-minute walk from Exit D of Dongjiaotou Station on Metro Line 2. From Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint it is only about a ten-minute drive, so it fits easily into your route.
🏮 Bin Ma Tong Sui — a stylish dessert shop inside Nantou Ancient Town
Bin Ma Tong Sui focuses on the home-style taste of Cantonese sweet soup, giving traditional tong sui a slight modern twist. The signature Bin Ma Grand Slam comes with taro balls, red bean paste, peach gum, lotus seeds and turtle jelly all in one bowl, with a rich mix of textures; if you prefer something lighter, go for the rock sugar snow fungus with papaya. The shop has two floors, and the second floor has retro decor and stained-glass windows — great for photos.
Address: Room 101, 41 Zhongshan South Street, Nantou City Community, Nantou Subdistrict, Nanshan District — right inside the Nantou Ancient Town scenic area, so you can plan a half-day of "explore the old town + eat tong sui". After a tiring afternoon of walking, sitting down to a sweet bowl is just right. Opening hours are roughly 12:00-21:00.
🍡 Yuelianxuan Chaoshan Desserts — duck mother dumplings in five-fruit soup
If you want to try Chaoshan flavours, head to Yuelianxuan Chaoshan Desserts. Its classic duck mother dumplings in five-fruit soup is a traditional Chaoshan dessert: "duck mother dumplings" are the Chaoshan version of filled tangyuan, shaped like duck eggs, served in a five-fruit soup simmered with kidney beans, job's tears, lotus seeds, taro and snow fungus. The dumpling skin is chewy and the filling smooth and fragrant; served chilled, it is superb for beating the heat. The ingredients are carefully chosen — lotus seeds from Jianning in Fujian and taro from Lipu in Guangxi, all sourced by the owner from his hometown in Chaoshan.
Address: A13, Building 6, Pengsheng Village, Bagualing, Futian District (go into the alley next to the Xianhao Life supermarket); opening hours are roughly 11:00-23:00. This is Yuelianxuan's first branch in Shenzhen; the original shop has more than twenty years of history in Chaoshan.
🍵 From Luohu Checkpoint: old-school tong sui you can eat right after crossing
If you don't want to travel all the way from Luohu Checkpoint into Nanshan, Luohu District itself has several good-value, well-regarded tong sui shops just a few stops from the checkpoint:
Shenzhou Tong Sui Shop (Luohu Branch) — a thirty-year-old name in Nigang Village
Shenzhou Tong Sui Shop opened in 1995 and is one of the representatives of Shenzhen's "old-school tong sui". It has always been in Nigang Village, Luohu, with down-to-earth prices that have risen only modestly over the years — a dessert shop that Shenzhen Middle School students and nearby residents have grown up with. The signatures include black sesame paste, mung bean paste, sweet potato soup, bean curd sheet and ginkgo sweet soup, and fresh fruit grass jelly. A bowl costs around ten-odd yuan, with generous ingredients and just the right sweetness. The shop is small, the kind of neighbourhood spot where you'd expect to find traditional Cantonese tong sui.
Address: 128 Nigang West Village, Jinbi Road, Luohu District (near Shenzhen Middle School and Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology); about a 10-minute walk from Nigang Station on Metro Line 9.
Shanxiao Tong Sui Shop (Guomao) — handmade tong sui in a Guomao alley
Shanxiao Tong Sui Shop hides in an alley in Guomao, Luohu, focusing on traditional handmade tong sui, with careful ingredients in every bowl and sweetness controlled just right. The signature Hokkaido red bean paste uses Hokkaido red beans slow-simmered until dense and sandy, then finished with black sugar refined from cane sugar and aged tangerine peel more than ten years old — layer upon layer of aroma, sweet but not cloying. You can add little rice balls or stretchy mochi. Another signature, ginger juice curdled milk, uses concentrated ginger juice pressed from small yellow ginger from Yunnan, filtered and then "curdled" with 4.0-fat water buffalo milk — warm and smooth on the palate with a touch of ginger heat, perfect in winter. A bowl is about ¥10 to ¥20.
Address: 16 Luo Xiaoyi Street, annex building of Xilong Mansion, 2059 Renmin South Road, Nanhu Subdistrict, Luohu District; a few minutes' walk from Guomao Station on Metro Line 1, close to Luohu Checkpoint.
Honeymoon Dessert (KK TIME Shopping Mall Branch) — a chain visitors know well
Honeymoon Dessert, which many visitors have grown up with, has branches in several Shenzhen malls. There is one on B1 of KK TIME Shopping Mall in Luohu — handy for sitting down to a bowl of mango pomelo sago or black sesame paste after shopping. The quality is consistent and the location easy to find, making it a good "dip your toe in" choice for first-time visitors to Shenzhen.
Address: B1, KK TIME Shopping Mall, 2090 Wenjin North Road, Cuizhu Subdistrict, Luohu District; near Tianbei Station on Metro Lines 3 and 7.
🍧 What else to pick + tips for eating tong sui in Shenzhen
- In Shekou there is also Foshan Master Huang Dessert House (73 Yucun Road), known for its freshly curdled ginger curdled milk, where the master pours hot water buffalo milk into freshly pressed ginger juice on the spot — rich ginger aroma.
- Near Exit G of Xiameilin Station is Huang's Milk Health Desserts, focusing on low-sugar water buffalo milk desserts; the red bean double-skin milk is a popular choice.
- Checkpoint cheat sheet: Luohu Checkpoint → Shenzhou Tong Sui Shop, Shanxiao Tong Sui Shop, Honeymoon Dessert (KK TIME); Futian Checkpoint → Yuelianxuan (Bagualing), Huang's Milk Health Desserts (Xiameilin); Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint → Baicaotang (Shekou), Bin Ma Tong Sui (Nantou Ancient Town).
- If you don't know the way, search "tong sui" or "mango pomelo sago" on Dianping and pick shops with high ratings and plenty of reviews — the safest bet in practice.
- Opening hours vary a lot: some stay open until the early hours, others close by 9pm. Check on Amap or Dianping before you set off.
- If you're in a group, order several to share: mango pomelo sago, double-skin milk, black sesame paste, taro balls — try them all to be satisfied.
🍨 Seven more: taro balls, ginger curdled milk and volcano shaved ice, one by one
Besides the old names above, these seven are the tong sui shops most discussed by visitors to Shenzhen in 2026. All have public addresses, so you can tap through to Amap for each:
- Qianyu Benpu (Units 123–125, sunken plaza on B1, Kingglory Plaza, Luohu): known for natural handmade taro balls and the signature "fresh mango taro ball bowl", called one of "Shenzhen's strongest tong sui shops"; branches across Kingglory Plaza, Futian Huangting Plaza and more, open from 10:00.
- Zhao Ji Heritage · Chinese Desserts (G-5A, Huangting Guoshang Shopping Plaza, 118 Fuhua Third Road, Futian District): a national chain of Chinese desserts, known for "intangible-heritage hand-pressed ginger juice curdled milk" and "double-skin milk", averaging ¥15–20 a bowl — excellent value.
- Xier Tian Tang Shui Pu (1/F, Building 83, Shuiwei Village, Fuqiang Road, Shuiwei, Futian/Huanggang): known for Hong Kong-style snacks and "volcano shaved ice"; the traditional ginger juice curdled milk, purple sweet potato fruit ice and taro paste fruit ice are big enough for 2–3 people to share, close to Futian Checkpoint.
- Youjian Xiaochi Dian (Shop D06, Liantang Port Commercial City, Luohu District): open kitchen, made to order; the ginger curdled milk, grass jelly coconut milk grand slam and crystal dumplings are all well known, right by Liantang Checkpoint.
- Yuanlai Tong Sui (Shop 7, Building 6, Zone 8, One City Centre, Longhua District): focusing on low-sugar nourishing Cantonese tong sui; the signature ¥18 mango pomelo sago uses pure coconut water instead of part of the coconut milk, light and not cloying; several branches in Shenzhen.
- Shengji Desserts (1/F, East Block, Department Store Plaza Building, Shennan East Road, Luohu District): near Dongmen Old Street and Sun Plaza, known for "caramel crispy double-skin milk" and "red bean taro ball tofu pudding", in the budget range.
- Shi Tang Guan (115A, Block C, Building 2, Zhengdong Mingyuan, 3009 Haide Second Road, Nanshan Subdistrict, Nanshan District): known for handmade taro balls and special shaved ice; the "mango taro ball shaved ice" is about ¥19 for a huge bowl — a pilgrimage site for taro ball fans.
A reminder: tong sui shops are busiest from the afternoon into the evening, and some small shops close early once they sell out — go earlier if you want the signature items. Routes from the three checkpoints: Luohu Checkpoint → Qianyu Benpu (Kingglory Plaza B1) / Shengji (Dongmen); Futian Checkpoint → Xier Tian (Shuiwei Village) / Zhao Ji Heritage (Huangting Plaza); Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint → Shi Tang Guan (Haide Second Road, Nanshan). The per-person spend and opening hours above are reference figures from public information; confirm the latest details on Dianping or Amap before you set off.
FAQ
Which tong sui shop is closest after crossing at Luohu Checkpoint?
Shanxiao Tong Sui Shop is at 2059 Renmin South Road, annex building of Xilong Mansion, a few minutes' walk from Guomao Station on Metro Line 1 — you can eat right after crossing. For traditional, inexpensive tong sui, go to Shenzhou Tong Sui Shop (128 Nigang West Village), about a 10-minute walk from Nigang Station on Metro Line 9.
How much does a bowl of tong sui cost?
At old neighbourhood shops like Shenzhou Tong Sui Shop, a bowl is around ¥10; at newer small shops like Shanxiao Tong Sui Shop, about ¥10 to ¥20; at mall chains like Honeymoon Dessert, about ¥20 to ¥35. Overall it is more than 30% cheaper than desserts in Hong Kong.
Which one is most convenient from Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint?
Baicaotang Herbal Tea Shop (207 Shekou New Street) is only about a ten-minute drive from Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint, the most convenient of the three checkpoint options; afterwards you can also take a stroll around Sea World in Shekou.
What time do tong sui shops usually close?
It varies a lot: Baicaotang stays open until 2am, Shanxiao Tong Sui Shop and Shenzhou Tong Sui Shop generally close around 10pm, Yuelianxuan is about 11:00-23:00, and Bin Ma Tong Sui is about 12:00-21:00. Remember to check on Amap or Dianping before you set off.
A reminder: the opening hours in this article are based on reported information and may change in practice; it is best to confirm on Dianping before you go.
💬 Comments
Loading…