Doumen Lychees made the list of China's second batch of famous, distinctive, high-quality, and new agricultural products, which was recently released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The list contained 377 products nationwide, of which 36 were from Guangdong Province. The title only goes to those products grown in a specific area with a certain production scale and yield that boast significant regional characteristics and unique nutritional quality. A stable supply and consumption market, as well as high public awareness and a strong reputation are also required.

Red lychees hang on the branches [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]

Doumen has a long-rooted tradition of planting lychee trees, which can be dated back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Traditionally, people used to plant several lychee trees near a residence that had just had a newborn as the lychee trees would begin to bear fruit around the time that the child was beginning school.

The unique climate conditions, abundant sunshine and rain, as well as fertile soil make Doumen an ideal place for developing a lychee plantation industry. Doumen lychees are well-known for their large fruit, which are juicy and have small pits.

Doumen has formulated a development pattern covering both production and promotion of its lychee industry, while also constantly expanding the lychee plantation area to more than 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares, 3,294 acres). Major lychee varieties cultivated include Concubine's Smile (Feizixiao), Glutinous Rice Dumpling (Nuomici), and Imperial Golden Ball (Yujinqiu).