Life in China, like in many places, follows the rhythm of the seasons bringing with them different fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Chinese are big consumers of fruit. Traditional Chinese medicine still has a significant impact on consumption habits. To take just one example, watermelon is recommended for its largely water composition, helping to reduce the “inner fire”. But that’s not the only reason. Fruits here are widely available and part of many peoples routine. 
May and June, in particular, are two months that I particularly like: the climate is the best of the year (at least until mid-June) and several fruits re-appear after a year of absence. This is an article about two fruits that I think worth being highlighted.

Lychees /荔枝 

Available in China: between the end of May until the end of June
Price /500G: 20-60¥, depending on the species

Anyone who hasn’t eaten Litchi during their (short) season in China doesn’t know what he’s missing. It should be said that Lychees are native from China: Their English name comes from the Chinese LI 荔 – ZHI 枝, and their culture/consumption, takes us back more than 1000 years ago. It is a fruit, when grown properly and consumed in its tropical zone of predilection, which is full of interest, but also fragility!

Here in China, the fruit is kept in ice or in the cool aisle, and can hardly last more than two days in the fridge before it starts to rot. The vast majority of the fruit found here is grown in the Guangdong province, and on the tropical island of Hainan. Those from Hainan are the bigger I have seen, and can reach up to the size of a plum.

The short period (less than a month), the relatively high price especially for some species, make it in China a popular fruit to offer.
Quality criteria: a rich taste, a very slight acidity, a tiny pit and abundant flesh with rose note. And of course: lots, lots of juice inside!

Yang Mei / 杨梅 / Waxberries

Available in China: from mid-May to late June
Price/500G: 30-80¥

In Zhejiang Province, where I live, the arrival of YangMei is a popular event. It makes also an ideal gift, to share with friends, colleagues or family. It is very likely for any type of gathering, that someone will bring a box that will be shared while chatting and laughing.

It is a particularly tasty fruit, which I have never had the opportunity to taste anywhere else than China. If I were to compare it to another fruit, I would place it somewhere between a blackberry and a cherry.

Although it exists some derivative ways to consume Yangmeis (alcohol, desserts, etc.), the most appropriate one for me still is to eat them and spit out the pit, just as it.

Again, it is a very fragile product, and very ephemeral. The production area is relatively large in China (sub-tropical areas), which has the effect of lengthening the period of consumption: the season always begins with YangMei from Yunnan, a mountainous province in southern China. The Waxberries (the English name for Yangmeis) there are quite large and the tropical climate makes it one of the earliest regions to commercialise.

Then, over the weeks, the provenance of the Yangmei in the fruit-stores of Ningbo get closer, until the time when the  ‘Ben Di De’ 本地的  (i.e. the « locals » ) appear: Wenzhou, Taizhou, Fenghua, Yuyao… Many cities near Ningbo produce Yangmei, Zhejiang province being considered as the epicentre of Chinese production. Yangmei here is famous: smaller, a rich taste, a slight touch of acidity.

Usually, Yangmei are sold in a blue plastic basket (between 500G and 1Kg), or in 2Kg fancy boxes to be offered as a gift. Some of them even got a label of production, like the popular “XianJu” from Taizhou. The production there is famous abroad, especially in Japan where they are sold in high-end supermarkets.

Good to know: When the season is on, many Yangmei picking activities are organized. A nice occasion to check what countryside looks like, as well as feeling your stomach with Yangmeis once for all.
Usual market price for Yangmei picking activity: 150-250¥/pers, including transportation and sometimes lunch.