China's Fruit Hierarchy: Undisputed King Reigns Supreme

From June to September every year, a unique scene unfolds at airports in Xinjiang—almost every passenger in the waiting hall has several boxes of fruit by their side.

In June, it’s small white apricots packed in yellow plastic boxes; in July, it’s老汉瓜 (old man melons) stuffed in sacks; in August, people at Turpan Airport carry grapes of white, green, purple, and black hues, while those at Kashgar Airport bring plums and ripe, juice-dripping figs. Fruit is available everywhere, so why go through the trouble of carrying dozens of pounds of it all the way from Xinjiang? The answer is one word:

At Xinjiang’s fruit stalls, a dazzling variety of fruits.

Located in northwest China, Xinjiang enjoys over 2,500 hours of annual sunshine and a daily temperature difference of 15°C, giving its fruits their signature sweetness. The unique "three mountains cradling two basins" geography further diversifies this sweetness. At the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, snowmelt nurtures crisp-sweet Aksu apples and Korla fragrant pears; the Turpan Basin, with temperature swings of up to 20°C, yields intensely sweet grapes; Southern Xinjiang’s sweetness is even more spectacular—plums, pomegranates, figs, and "dinosaur eggs" (pluots), each with distinct character.

Xinjiang’s fruits boast an extraordinary spectrum of sweetness.

As a key Silk Road hub, Xinjiang was a cultural bridge between ancient China and the West, and a relay station for fruit exchange. Watermelons, grapes, figs, and pomegranates traveled west to Xinjiang before spreading eastward to central China; dates, mulberries, and apricots moved from central China to Xinjiang, then to the world. Even the cultivated apple traces its origins to Xinjiang’s Tianshan Mountains before conquering global palates.

Xinjiang’s fruits are far more fascinating than you’d imagine.

Every corner of Xinjiang takes pride in its local fruits.

Melons, grapes, flat peaches, figs...

Just how many exceptional fruits does Xinjiang have?

Each March, as apricot blossoms bloom, Xinjiang’s sweet fruit saga begins. Locals’ "apricot happiness" means endless floral seas in March and endless apricots by June.

In spring, the apricot blossoms of Yegen Valley paint Xinjiang’s hillsides pink and white.

Xinjiang is China’s largest apricot producer, yielding millions of tons annually. By 2019, its apricot orchards spanned nearly 2 million mu (about 1,333 km²)—equivalent to one-third of Shanghai’s area. Apricot trees are ubiquitous here, from vast orchards to residential courtyards and roadside greenery. Come spring, pink-white petals drift through nearly every corner of Xinjiang.

Apricot varieties thrive across Xinjiang, with over 200 types in Southern Xinjiang alone. Standouts include Kashi’s Saimaiti apricots, Kezhou’s Baren apricots, and Hotan’s Akyaglik apricots. But if asked where Xinjiang’s best apricots grow, locals point to Kuqa in Southern Xinjiang—home to the exquisite "white honey"小白杏 (xiao bai xing).

The sweetness of小白杏 can only be described as "white honey hanging on trees."

Pale yellow with a silky, fiber-free texture,小白杏 release a juice sweeter than honey when gently chewed. As locals say, "Their sweetness travels from your teeth to your waist." The sweetness penetrates even the pit—after eating the flesh, one cracks the shell to savor the crisp kernel inside, wasting nothing.

小白杏’s flaw is its perishability. Before cold-chain logistics, outsiders mostly encountered Xinjiang’s小红杏 (small red apricots). Grown in Southern Xinjiang’s Aksu, these yellow-red fruits rival小白杏 in sweetness and aroma. Their standout trait? They cling to branches long after ripening, growing sweeter as moisture evaporates.

Fully ripe小红杏 can surpass 20° Brix in sweetness.

Photo / Zhu Mengfei

It’s August now—perhaps too late for apricots, but perfect for grapes and peaches.

Grapes are the mainstay of fruit production in Xinjiang. In 2021, Xinjiang's grape output reached 3.2697 million tons, accounting for one-third of the region's total fruit production, with Turpan contributing the most, making up over half of Xinjiang's total grape yield. According to artifacts unearthed from the Astana tombs, grape cultivation in Turpan dates back approximately 7,000 years. Today, Turpan boasts more than 600 varieties of grapes, ranging from the smallest, Suosuo grapes, which are as tiny as mung beans (18 grapes weighing just 1 gram), to the largest variety, SP226, with single grapes weighing up to 8 grams, as big as quail eggs.

Turpan is home to 600 grape varieties, the highest number in China.

The most widely sold variety is the seedless white grape, the dominant cultivar in Turpan, covering 95% of the region's grape-growing area. This variety is named for its underdeveloped seeds, which are imperceptible when eaten, and its pale greenish-white flesh. Among the seedless white grapes, the most famous subtype in Turpan is called "Green Pearl." As the name suggests, these grapes are small like pearls, but their fresh fruit has a sugar content of 20%-24%, soaring to 60% after drying. They are the sweetest among global grape varieties, with tender, juicy flesh and skin as thin as cicada wings—making them irresistible once tasted.

Seedless white grapes: the sweetest stars of Turpan's grape varieties.

Photo by Zhu Mengfei

In August, Xinjiang's fruit universe also features a touch of pink—peaches. Xinjiang's Red Pan peaches are the finest among flat peach varieties, known for their high sweetness and rose-like aroma. When fully ripe, they can be peeled effortlessly like oranges, with the skin sliding off in sheets, and the pit separating easily from the flesh. A bite of a juicy Xinjiang flat peach leaves a lingering fragrance that can be savored all afternoon.

Xinjiang flat peaches: the kings of peaches, a heavenly fresh fruit.

Across northern Xinjiang, the sweetest fruits from July to September are grapes and peaches, while in southern Xinjiang, figs reign supreme during this season. Atux is the main production area for figs in southern Xinjiang, where the early yellow fig, a unique Xinjiang variety, is large, yellow, and extremely sweet, locally nicknamed "sugar buns." These figs are so sweet that when fully ripe, their flesh oozes honey-like syrup. Before eating, they should be slapped firmly in the palm to evenly distribute the sugar throughout the flesh.

Due to their high ripeness and sweetness, fully ripe figs spoil quickly if not sold by morning, making them extremely difficult to transport. Combined with Xinjiang's vast distances, enjoying a ripe fresh fig often requires a trip to the region itself.

If you encounter a fig stall like this on the streets of Xinjiang, don’t miss it.

September marks a turning point for Xinjiang's fruits, serving as the final stop for many varieties.

When people mention Xinjiang's honeydew melons, their first thought is often "Hami melons." While these melons are famous for their Hami origin, the tastiest ones aren’t exclusive to Hami. From Hami in the north to Turpan and Kashgar in the south, each region has its own specialty melon varieties. Northern Xinjiang primarily grows Xizhou honey and Queen melons, while southern Xinjiang is known for the Jianshi melon, the undisputed king of sweet melons.

In the 1980s, to promote Jianshi melons, Jianshi County held a promotional event in Beijing, coinciding with the Asian Games. The organizing committee invited the Chinese women's volleyball team to sample them. Thanks to their thick, fine flesh, sweet crispness, rich juice, and thin skin, the melons became a hit among the players, sparking a buying frenzy in Beijing at the time.

However, like figs, the Jianshi melon's fame waned due to transportation challenges caused by its extreme sweetness. Today, Xinjiang has developed techniques to control early and late ripening for honeydew melons, and with rapid advancements in logistics, Jianshi melons are harvested in batches from April to September, offering nationwide access to these melons from spring to autumn.

Xinjiang honeydew melons vary in texture from crisp to soft, but sweetness is their eternal theme.

Photo by Zhu Mengfei

After September, the only major fruits still available in Xinjiang are Aksu apples and Korla fragrant pears.

Aksu apples, also known as "sugar-core apples," are famed for their sweetness. The excess sugar in the flesh cannot be metabolized, turning the part near the core a crystalline brown, hence the name. Korla fragrant pears are even more intriguing, categorized as "male" or "female." Male pears have irregularly shaped bottoms, while female pears are rounder, juicier, sweeter, and fleshier. Locals in Xinjiang eat pears by holding them upside down and biting directly into the base, enjoying the ultra-sweet flesh along with the slightly sour core for a layered taste.

Aksu apples with their crystalline sugar cores.

Beyond these mainstream varieties, Xinjiang has recently introduced more fruits, such as European and American plums and dinosaur eggs, as well as tropical fruits like dragon fruit and passion fruit. Why is Xinjiang so perfectly suited for fruit cultivation? The answer lies in its diverse terrain and rich history.

Why does Xinjiang have so many delicious fruits?

Xinjiang's geographical location is unique. For people in the Central Plains, Xinjiang, located in the far northwest of China, may seem too remote. However, from a broader perspective, Xinjiang holds a pivotal position in China. It is a crucial passage on the Silk Road, bearing the responsibility of cultural exchange and serving as a transit hub for fruits between the East and the West. Many fruits in Xinjiang, upon closer examination of their names, reveal origins from abroad.

For example, grapes were first introduced to China during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. Sima Qian recorded in "Records of the Grand Historian" that grapes were brought from the ancient Central Asian kingdom of Dayuan, first arriving in Xinjiang before inspiring poetic lines like "grape wine in luminous cups." The name "grape" itself evolved from the Dayuan word "bādāwa."

Today, Xinjiang has rightfully earned the title of the "World Grape Botanical Garden."

The origin of cultivated apples also traces back to the foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. Over centuries, Xinjiang's wild apples spread to Central Asia, then to Europe, and later to the Americas. From small, sour wild apples, they were gradually改良 into large, sweet Western apples, which were eventually brought back to Yantai, Shandong, by American missionaries, completing the global journey of Chinese apples.

Various fruits traveled back and forth along the Silk Road, taking root in Xinjiang, and the land did not disappoint them. Strong sunlight, scarce rainfall, dry climate, and significant temperature differences are common impressions of Xinjiang's climate. Deserts cover nearly 60% of Xinjiang, with three of China's top ten deserts located here. Temperatures can drop to -50.15°C or rise to 49.6°C. By these standards, Xinjiang's natural environment seems inhospitable, yet this very climate is the secret behind the exceptional sweetness of its fruits.

Whether imported or native, sweetness is the unifying trait of Xinjiang's fruits.

Turpan is the best example. With over 3,000 hours of annual sunshine—1,000 more than eastern China at the same latitude—Turpan's scorching days and cool nights create vast diurnal temperature swings, allowing grapes to accumulate more sugar and aroma. Xinjiang's melons, often grown in desert oases, benefit from high temperatures, dry air, and intense sunlight during critical growth stages, making them the sweetest in China.

Vineyards are everywhere in the Turpan Basin.

As a Silk Road hub, Xinjiang is like a treasure basin, gathering and nurturing fine fruits from home and abroad with its得天独厚的地理条件, ultimately earning its reputation as the "Land of Fruits."

What to do with Xinjiang's surplus fruits?

Xinjiang produces abundant, sweet fruits, but storage and transportation have long been challenges. In the past, when transport was underdeveloped, fruit migration relied not only on horsepower but also on human ingenuity. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Hami King sent melons to the imperial court. To keep them fresh during the six-month journey, he had them transported with soil, "planted" on carts en route.

Even a century later, accounts of these melons entering the capital remain awe-inspiring: "Couriers on the road carried Hami melons by the hundreds, each holding a small basket draped with yellow cloth, swiftly passing like birds in flight."

Xinjiang's fruit harvest peaks in summer. What to do with the surplus? Dry them! Figs, prunes, apricots, raisins—all are sun-dried. If fresh fruits can't be eaten in time, dry them. If eating them plain isn't satisfying, cook them into dishes. For those impossible to transport, turn them into jam for easy携带.

From August to September, climbing onto "little houses" to sneak raisins is a shared childhood memory in Turpan. These houses, called晾房, are built of adobe bricks with air vents. With ground temperatures reaching 80°C, nature provides Xinjiang with a geothermal dryer. Tons of grapes can turn into sweet, emerald-green raisins in just over a month.

The晾房 is the alchemical furnace of Xinjiang's raisins.

Unlike the raisins of northern Xinjiang, southern Xinjiang's apricots dry more casually. By late July, unharvested小红杏 don't rot but remain on the trees, drying into杏干. Locals call them "吊干杏" or "吊死鬼." Figs can also be dried, their honey-like sweetness turning into a sticky, gummy texture—eaten like软糖 or brewed into drinks.

Xinjiang's diverse universe of dried fruits.

Though far from the Central Plains, Xinjiang gifts the nation unforgettable sweetness. No matter where you are or how life treats you, you can trust that Xinjiang's fruits will offer a little sweetness in even the bitterest times.

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Image editing | Chen Jinyu, Jiang Jiang

Header image | Visual China Group

Cover image | Visual China Group