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| Kui
Pomelo Orchard |
Kui
Pomelo Orchard in Kuizhou, today's Baidi
City, popularly know as Big Vegetable Garden, is a small place
with a famous name.
Big Vegetable Garden is said to be the site of one of the great poet
Du Fu's dwellings. It is also famous for its Kui pomelo. Du Fu's dwelling
is nowhere to be found now. But many tourists still come here hopefully
to find traces of it, to pay respect to the poet and to admire the
old Kui pomelo orchard.
Kui pomelo has been grown in Kuizhou for at least 1,200-2,000 years.
According to the Annals of Shu of the Han Dynasty, "Even the
pomelos of Yangzhou cannot compare with those of Kuizhou." A
famous variety, it enjoys a good market. This egg-shaped fruit grows
to 20-30 centimeters in diameter. It has a thin skin and is succulent
and refreshingly sweet to the taste. When placed in a room, it permeates
the room with a delicate fragrance. The best variety comes from Kui
Pomelo Orchard. A seventy-year-old man at the orchard, whose family
has cultivated the pomelo trees for generations, recalled that at
his great grandfather's time, the Kui Pomelo was already delivered
as a tribute to the emperor and had been awarded an inscribed board
by the emperor. The present orchard is almost two hundred years old.
Despite the excellent quality of the fruit, Kui Pomelo Orchard's output
is limited because it is quite small. There are only forty-four trees
planted in an area one-fifteenth of a hectare. A fruit research institute
has been set up in Fengjie and the pomelos have been grafted onto
trees elsewhere so that more Kui pomelos are now available in other
places. |
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| Spectacular Qutang,
elegant Wu and majestic Xiling - they are no illusion but truly
world wonders, even after the big dam is complete. Let images
in our gallery be your guidance when planning your next China
Trip. |
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