In an online posting, Tian Lei rated Vivi Dolce's mint chocolate gelato "yummy!" and added that "it's refreshing mint at first and then full-bodied chocolate, when it melts, it gives off a creamy scent, rich and layered".

Li's gelato skills have earned her professional approval, too, and at one of the capital's top French restaurants, Temple Restaurant Beijing, Michelin three-star guest chef Xavier Pellicer fell in love with Li's black- sesame gelato.

It is part of her growing line of oriental flavors using local, seasonal ingredients, which, Pellicer says, are at the core of any good food.

Li pairs her ingredients mostly by instinct. She goes to a market, sizes up, sniffs, pinches and then trusts her feelings with the fruits that make their way into the ice-cream maker.

"Natural freshness is the essence of gelato," she says. "You judge the fruits best when you're up close."

For her, quality cannot be compromised and her popular mango sorbet is made with fruit from Hainan province.

Her insistence on using the best ingredients may mean that her product is expensive, but Li says she cannot skimp on what goes into her gelato. When mangoes go off-season, for example, she stops using them. It's time for another flavor.

"The great thing about gelato is that it has endless possibilities," she says.