Cinnamomum cassia elongated leaves that are long and have a decidedly reddish colour when young. Chinese cassia is a close relative to Ceylon cinnamon ("C. verum"), Saigon cinnamon ("C. loureiroi"), also known as "Vietnamese cinnamon", Indonesian cinnamon ("C. burmannii"), also called "korintje", and Malabar cinnamon ("C. citriodorum") from Sri Lanka. In all five species, the dried bark is used as a spice. Chinese cassia's flavour is less delicate than that of Ceylon cinnamon. Its bark is thicker, more difficult to crush, and has a rougher texture than that of Ceylon cinnamon. Most of the spice sold as cinnamon in the United States,
Cassia wine is also a traditional gift for birthdays in China. It is also considered a medicinal wine in traditional Chinese medicine. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of" Materia Medica credits sweet osmanthus with "curing the hundred diseases" and "raising the spirit". Within China, cassia wine is associated with Xi'an and Guizhou, but production now occurs throughout China, including Beijing and at the Hong Jiang Winery in Hunan. Despite the name, the Chinese cassia tree is not used to flavor cassia wine. References to the osmanthus in Chinese literature and poetry are often translated as "cassia" because both trees were formerly known in China