A Year-Round Fruit Fiesta: How This Mega-Province Sweetens China's Four Seasons

Sanya was historically known as Yazhou. As early as the Western Jin Dynasty, the "Records of the Plants and Trees of the South" documented native tropical fruits like lychee and longan from Yazhou. Later, the Southern Song Dynasty's "General Records" mentioned the introduction of jackfruit. Plantains and mangoes appeared much later in the Qing Dynasty's "Yazhou Chronicles." In short, Sanya has a long history of cultivating and introducing tropical fruits, though previously, they were mainly grown for local consumption.

Since the 1980s, with professional guidance and planning, Sanya began large-scale tropical fruit cultivation. According to Sanya's Bureau of Statistics, the current fruit planting area covers 390,000 mu (about 26,000 hectares), with an annual output of 480,000 tons. Thanks to its unique geographical advantages, Sanya now grows and has introduced over 400 tropical fruit varieties. Located at 18°N latitude, Sanya enjoys an average annual sunshine duration of 2,534 hours, or 6.9 hours per day, making it a natural greenhouse for tropical fruits.

In Sanya, you can enjoy mangoes all year round!

At 3.68 yuan per jin for Guifei mangoes, 4.05 yuan for Jinhuang, and 3.53 yuan for Tainong No. 1 (based on April data from Sanya’s Price Monitoring Center), many visitors are amazed by how affordable and delicious Sanya’s mangoes are. The city’s fruit stalls exude a strong mango aroma almost year-round—no exaggeration, as years of selective breeding and technological advancements ensure mangoes are available in every season. Achieving "mango freedom" here is no pipe dream!

Sanya has a tropical maritime monsoon climate, with an average annual temperature of 25.5°C and January temperatures consistently above 20°C, making it ideal for tropical fruit cultivation. The mountainous terrain, once a limiting factor, has been adapted through selective breeding to suit different mango varieties at varying altitudes. For example, Tainong No. 1 thrives at 100–500 meters, Guifei at around 800 meters, and Jinhuang at 800–1,000 meters. Techniques like bagging help Sanya’s mangoes resist harsh conditions and grow across seasons while reducing pesticide use and improving quality.

Today, Sanya boasts a diverse range of premium mango varieties—after all, "Sanya Mango" is a nationally protected geographical indication product.

Key varieties in Sanya include Tainong No. 1, Guifei (Red Golden Dragon), Jinhuang, Australian, and Ivory mangoes. Tainong, introduced from Taiwan, is round, golden, and intensely aromatic, embodying the quintessential mango for many. Guifei is large with a thin pit, offering a fresh, sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth experience. Australian mangoes, plump and rosy-yellow, evoke nostalgia for 1990s kids in Northeast China as a once-rare indulgence. They also represent Sanya’s targeted market segmentation.

But this barely scratches the surface. Jinhuang has thin pits, thick flesh, and is among the sweetest; Yuwen is famously face-sized yet equally sugary; "Chili Mango," a Guifei variant, sports a long, pointed tail and commands high prices for its cuteness; Green Mango stays green when ripe, tart yet juicy; and Sacred Heart, small but fiberless with red skin, is a recent favorite.

As other varieties proliferate, the long-cultivated Green Skin Mango’s market share in Sanya dwindles. Less sweet with a hint of sourness, it’s beloved by locals who traditionally eat it unripe, dipped in spicy salt for crunch.

When will locally grown durians hit the market?

Durians are expensive largely due to reliance on imports. Sanya’s homegrown durians carry high hopes.

On the Chinese mainland, only Sanya can cultivate durians, as they require annual averages above 22°C—Sanya’s is 25.5°C. Plus, it offers ideal sunlight, rainfall, humidity, and fertile soil.

Per Hainan’s Academy of Agricultural Sciences, durian introduction was a persistent effort from 1958 to 2019. Commercial planting began in 2018, now exceeding 30,000 mu (2,000 hectares), though still in development. This year, about 200 mu (13 hectares) in Hainan will bear fruit, with an estimated 50-ton yield starting in 2023.

Sanya mainly grows Thai Golden Pillow durians, alongside Malaysian Musang King and Black Thorn. Staff at Hainan’s Rouming Durian Base claim Hainan durians taste superior to imports since they ripen naturally, unlike the 75% chemically ripened market stock.

With China’s annual durian consumption at ~1 million tons, mass-market Hainan durians and price drops require patience. If Sanya can stabilize yield and quality while solving global disease challenges, "durian freedom" may one day be possible.

Which fruit tastes like "springwater growing on trees"?

Wax apple, called "tianbu" or "plop" in southern China for its falling sound, originates from India, Malaysia, and Java, hence its alias "Java Rose Apple."

Its seed rarely develops, making it a truly no-shell, no-pit "lazy fruit." Darker color and open calyx indicate ripeness. Its thin skin bruises easily, driving up prices.

Sanya has grown wax apples for over a century. Native pink varieties are mildly sweet with a camphor-like scent. Today, improved breeds like Black Pearl and Black Diamond dominate. The latter, crisp and juicy, is like "springwater on trees."

Xing Jun, head of Sanya’s Wax Apple Association, noted recent focus on the refined "Milk Wax Apple." Delicate, sweet, and perishable, it’s nurtured with milk-enriched bio-fertilizers for its unique taste. Another new variety, "Nanlu No. 1," blends Black Diamond and Milk Wax Apple traits and exports to Canada and beyond.

Every morning, numerous vendors gather with shoulder poles to sell a variety of tropical fruits like mangoes, durians, jackfruits, and wax apples in vibrant colors. The Xinhongang Fruit Market, a local favorite, also attracts many out-of-town visitors who come specifically for its fame. The market is always bustling, offering fresh and affordable fruits, with vendors even providing packing and shipping services for customers.

For many Sanya locals, childhood taste memories are tied to the mobile fruit stalls that roamed the streets. The rich aroma of guava, in particular, carries the distinctive scent of tropical fruits. Also known as "bala," guava comes in red and white flesh varieties, with longtime Sanya residents preferring the red-hearted ones.

The carambola, or star fruit, from elementary school textbooks is memorable for its star-shaped cross-section. In Sanya, there are mainly two types: sour carambola and honey carambola. The honey variety is sweet, juicy, thin-skinned, and crisp, though its ridges should be removed before eating due to their astringency. The sour carambola, intensely tangy, is often used by locals to stew fish—not only removing fishy flavors but also adding a subtle sweetness to the broth.

Take dragon fruit, for example. Besides the common red and yellow-skinned varieties, Sanya has also introduced the "bird's nest dragon fruit" from Central America, nicknamed "bird's nest fruit." Though a type of dragon fruit, it is juicier, as smooth as bird's nest, and exceptionally sweet. Its unique appearance also makes it quite expensive.

If there's one must-buy tropical fruit in Sanya's markets, mangosteen would surely make the list. Its tender, snow-white segments resemble a chubby cat's paws, making it irresistible to eat many at once—each melting in your mouth.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Sanya introduced rambutan from the Malay Peninsula, also called "hairy lychee" due to its striking resemblance to lychee in texture and taste.

Visitors to Sanya's Nandao Farm will surely remember the canistel, a tropical fruit native to Cuba and North America. Its golden hue resembles an un-oily salted egg yolk, but biting into it reveals a flavor reminiscent of roasted sweet potato—dry and dense. Eating it with a spoon can be a bit choking, so it's best paired with water.

The sugar apple, native to the Americas, the Indian Islands, and the Caribbean, resembles a Buddha's head, hence its name. Dubbed the "ice cream of fruits," it emits a unique fragrance when ripe and offers a creamy, honeyed taste. Among the world's sweetest fruits, besides the common yellow-green variety, Sanya has recently introduced purple sugar apples, adding a new hue to the "Buddha's head."

The "thumb watermelon" popular in Beijing's high-end supermarkets, labeled as sourced from Sanya, is also quite pricey. Originally from Mexico and Central America, this fruit is indeed thumb-sized, with watermelon-like stripes but a taste closer to slightly sour cucumber. Though not very sweet, its juicy "pop-in-the-mouth" texture is uniquely delightful.

This is far from all—Sanya also boasts the miracle fruit, which makes everything taste sweet afterward; the snake fruit, with coconut-like flesh and pineapple-like flavor; the breadfruit, resembling bread in appearance and potato in texture; and the finger lime, whose pulp mimics caviar...

Sanya can truly be called a new paradise for tropical fruits. Not only does it cultivate "traditional" tropical fruits like mangoes, dragon fruits, wax apples, and guavas on a large scale, but it also breaks seasonal limits, ensuring their fragrances linger year-round. Moreover, it continually pushes the boundaries of tropical fruit cultivation, introducing previously hard-to-grow varieties. Only in Sanya can you fully savor such a diverse array of exotic flavors and nature's wondrous creations.

In Sanya, you can not only enjoy a rich variety of tropical fruits but also experience their vibrant, everyday culinary uses.

Winter Romance: Sipping Coconut Water in Short Sleeves

Sanya is a city where summer lingers in winter. While northerners bundle up in down jackets, Cantonese wear sweaters, and Haikou residents don long sleeves in January, Sanya locals relax in short sleeves and beach shorts, savoring coconut water by the sea breeze.

In the scorching summer, coconut water is ubiquitous—the most authentic and quickest way to beat the heat. After drinking, the tender coconut meat, thin as cicada wings, melts in your mouth; older coconut meat is chewy and crisp, often dipped in brown sugar by locals.

Sanya's coconut cultivation dates back to Su Dongpo's "Ode to Coconut Wine." Traditional green coconuts shape today's coconut-lined coasts, while the recently introduced golden coconuts, sweeter than their green counterparts, are also worth trying.

The Classic Taste: Green Mango with Chili Salt

In Sanya, locals prefer slightly firm, tangy green mangoes dipped in chili salt—a tradition passed down for generations. Though green mango with chili or shrimp paste might seem like "dark cuisine," it’s a hidden gem in the alleys.

Many street vendors in Sanya serve sliced green mango with two dipping sauces: a sweet-spicy sauce made from local yellow lantern chili and brown sugar, and a pungent shrimp paste that surprisingly enhances the mango's freshness. The crisp bite carries a hint of the sea, offering a unique flavor.

In the sweltering heat, Sanya locals also prepare green mango like cucumber salad—tossed with rice vinegar or a dash of soy sauce—creating a refreshing, thirst-quenching treat.

Freshly shaved fruit ice with an explosion of toppings

In Sanya, you must try freshly shaved fruit ice! Mango, wax apple, lychee, durian… anything can be turned into shaved ice, packed with generous toppings like taro balls, winter melon barley, raisins, and peanuts. Locals recommend using brown sugar instead of white sugar if you want it sweeter—"White sugar tastes bland and isn’t as good!"