Ice cream was first invented in China. According to legend, hundreds of years ago, people in China knew to cut the frozen river water in winter into pieces, store it in the cellar, take it out in summer, and eat it after mixing it with mashed fruit. The production of ice cream began in Yuan Dynasty. In order to keep the secret of the production process, Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu issued an edict prohibiting the production of ice cream outside the king's room.

Kyle Poirot said in his book "Oriental Experience": "In Huang Jinguo in the East, residents like to eat milk ice." The so-called milk ice is ice cream made on the basis of the freezing point of Yuan people. Yuan people mixed jam and milk that they usually ate, so the condensed ice, like sand and mud, was much softer than ice cubes and melted at the entrance.

Extended data:

Cold drinks were called "ice food" in ancient times. The tradition of cold food has a long history, with a history of more than 3,000 years. As early as the Book of Songs in July, there was such a poem: "On the second day, the ice rushed, and on the third day, it was accepted in Lingyin." This is a farming poem sung by slaves at that time. The second day and the third day refer to the old December and the first month. The translation is: December, chisel the ice all loud.

By the end of the spring and autumn period, the use of ice was more extensive. Governors like to drink iced rice wine at banquets. There is a description in "The Songs of Chu Evocation" that "it is cool to drink frozen", and it is appreciated that the iced glutinous rice wine tastes mellow and cool, which shows that the level of cold drink making was quite high at that time.

References:

People's Daily Online-Who first introduced "ice cream" to China?