Red - fruited hawthorn, also known as shānzhā in Chinese is the fruit/berries of a small to medium, 5-10 meters, hardy to 20F, fruit tree known as the Chinese Hawthorn or Crataegus pinnatifolia.

The tree bears bright, blood red fruits, following pink-red flowers, 3-4cm in diameter, which mature in September. Fruits could be consumed fresh but are frequently used in preserves. In Northerly Chinese cuisine, ripened Crataegus pinnatifida fruits are utilised in the dessert tanghulu.

The fruit has an assortment of medicative properties and like numerous other species of hawthorn have medicative uses. It has been utilized for eating and medicine for hundreds of years. Modern research by Kao et al. has established that the fruit of the red-fruited hawthorn berries tree has antineoplastic (anti-cancer) activities on skin, showing to a potentiality of therapeutic use for skin cancer patients.

chinese hawthorn, hawthorn berries