Cold drinks originated in Shang dynasty about 3000 years ago. At that time, wealthy families knew that they would carve ice cubes in winter and store them in the cellar for use next summer. The Zhou Dynasty even set up a "Lingren" who was in charge of "ice power". By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, ice was used more widely. Governors like to drink iced rice wine at banquets. There is a description of "drinking cold with ice" in "Evocation of Songs of Chu", which appreciates the mellow and cool taste of iced glutinous rice wine, showing that the production level of cold drinks was quite high at that time.
In the Tang dynasty, ice products began to be sold publicly. According to Tang Yanyan, people sell ice in the market in midsummer, and passers-by are so hot that everyone wants to eat it quickly. Unexpectedly, the ice seller thought there were strange goods and deliberately raised the price of ice. As a result, passers-by endured the heat and walked away. Soon, the hard ice melted, and the people finally got smarter and lost money. In the late Tang Dynasty, in order to attract business, merchants added sugar to ice cubes to attract customers.
Cold drinks developed rapidly in the Song Dynasty, with many kinds, including cold drinks shops. Yang Wanli said in his poem: "The Imperial City stopped at noon in June, and the people in the city were like cooking and sweating. Selling ice comes from water, and pedestrians don't eat their hearts. "
The ice shop in Bianjing (now Kaifeng) in the Northern Song Dynasty sold "rock sugar, ice and snow, and iced Zi Yuan", and the iced sour plum soup at that time had a unique flavor. The streets of Lin 'an (now Hangzhou) in the Southern Song Dynasty sold "Snow Bubble Fighting Water" and "Snow Bubble Mei Huajiu". Liu Song Songnian's Reading Gambling Market and Song Shujia's Half Tea Map also depict the scene of selling cold drinks.
After the Yuan Dynasty, there was a new breakthrough in cold drinks, which brought the appearance of ice cream. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many famous brands of delicious cold drinks appeared one after another. Only in A Dream of Red Mansions are records of sour plum soup, rose dew, osmanthus dew, herbal tea and rose marinade soup.