A Fusion Fest vendor serves up a TikTok famous dessert leading to booming business 

SOUTH BEND, Ind—In the Asia region of fusion fest sits Sweet Crunch Tanghulu, one of many booths at this year's festival.  

Tanghulu is a candy-coated fruit that got its start in Asia but recently went viral on social media, bringing it to the U.S. Na Qiu, Owner of Sweet Crunch Tanghulu, says, “This dessert is very popular in China for hundreds of years, and recently started to be very popular in South Korea, Japan, and then came to America.” 

Na Qiu used to purchase this sweet delicacy for her son, but after it went viral, she and her husband decided to make it themselves. Qiu explains, “Now we have four stores in New York and one store in Chicago, Chinatown, and we're going to open a new one in North America.” 

The couple sells Tanghulu at many events along the East Coast outside of the businesses they own. Recently, their Chicago location opened, allowing them to venture out to South Bend to share their tasty treats at Fusion Fest this year.   

Coming to South Bend gave locals a chance to try this famous treat. Kaelyn McClements says, “There's like a mixture of the crunch on the outside and then the softness of the strawberry on the inside.”