A curious tourist tries a couple of little water chestnut puddings.[Photo by Pauline D. Loh/China Daily]

That is why he has opened a shop selling products made from the five treasures of Pan Tang, an old farming region on Lychee Bay.

"The mud in the swamp was a deep, rich black. We had lotus roots, water caltrop, water chestnuts, water asparagus and arrowhead bulbs.

"They were so abundant and many Pan Tang food specialties were made from them," Feng says wistfully, handing me my order of a water chestnut drink, a syrupy broth thickened with water chestnut starch, with crisp sweet water chestnut pieces suspended in the solution.

It is a refreshing drink that brightens our eyes and quenches our thirst. As we heaped praise on Feng, he gets into stride and persuades us to try the water chestnut cakes set in little clay pudding pots.

They are equally delicious.

Before we leave his shop, we buy packets of little chicken biscuits, a box of water chestnut starch, and two more discs of water chestnut puddings. Feng shared his memories of Lychee Bay for free.