China's Most Underrated Fruit Kingdom: Sweetness Stretching from the Loess Plateau to Both Sides of the Qinling Mountains

Every Shaanxi native, when introducing their hometown's persimmons, pomegranates, and kiwifruits to friends from other regions, has almost invariably faced the soul-searching question:

"Huh? Isn’t your place just the Loess Plateau? How can it grow fruits?"

Shaanxi’s pomegranates, kiwifruits, and persimmons.

Photos in Figures 2 & 3 by Zhu Mengfei.

First of all, Shaanxi is vast, and it’s definitely not all Loess Plateau!

Secondly, Shaanxi’s fruit production is on par with the "fruit basket" Shandong, and in terms of cultivation area, it has ranked among the top in the country for years, reaching

Shaanxi doesn’t just have fruits—it has them in abundance!

Its southern part is the mild and humid Qinba Mountains, where kiwifruits thrive on both sides of the Qinling Mountains, along with Chengdu’s sweet oranges in Hanzhong and Baihe papayas in Ankang... The lush fruits of southern Shaanxi paint a scene of "a southern landscape in the north."

In the middle lies the flat Guanzhong Plain, home to Lintong’s pomegranates, Fuping’s persimmons, Dali’s watermelons, Huxian’s grapes, and Yanliang’s melons... The vibrant fruits nourished by the Wei River embody the sweetness of the 800-li Qin Plain.

In northern Shaanxi, the rugged Loess Plateau, often perceived as solemn and weathered, is China’s main production area for red dates and apples, contributing over a quarter of the nation’s apple output. The fruit trees standing tall in its ravines bolster the "backbone" of the Northwest.

From southern Shaanxi to Guanzhong and northern Shaanxi, the province’s "fruit belt" forms a "sweet road" stretching 878 kilometers from north to south, spanning eight latitudes and crossing three climatic zones.

It’s harvest season again in Luochuan, where farmers are busy picking, sorting, and boxing apples.

As is well known, Shaanxi looks like "three provinces" in one—

It is long and narrow from north to south, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and Sichuan to the south, spanning the mid-temperate, warm-temperate, and subtropical zones, and is divided by the Qinling and northern mountains into three vastly different geographical regions: northern Shaanxi, Guanzhong, and southern Shaanxi.

This climatic complexity has shaped Shaanxi’s diverse fruits. If Shandong is the "big fruit basket," then Shaanxi is more like a "fruit stall" blending northern and southern flavors.

If one fruit were to symbolize the climatic features of southern Shaanxi’s mountains, the orange would be the undisputed choice.

It’s often said that "oranges grow south of the Huai River." The Qinling-Huaihe line divides China’s north and south geographically. Hanzhong lies south of the Qinling Mountains, adjacent to Sichuan, the "citrus powerhouse," sharing similarities in location and climate with the Sichuan Basin—

Almost every Hanzhong native grew up eating Sichuan oranges, but the region also produces its own sweet and juicy variety: the Chenggu sweet orange.

Chenggu is located along the Han River, with the Qinba Mountains and hills to its north and south. The middle section, traversed by rivers, forms flat and fertile "basins" with loose, deep soil. Combined with the area’s mild and humid climate, it’s ideal for citrus cultivation. The Chenggu sweet oranges bred here are delicate, pulp-free, and rich in flavor, rivaling their southern counterparts in taste.

Further south along the Han River, by Ying Lake in Ankang City, loquats surprisingly thrive.

It is the largest artificial freshwater lake in Northwest China formed after the completion of the Ankang Hydropower Station,

with islands scattered across the lake, earning it the reputation as the "Thousand-Island Lake of Shaanxi."

Ying Lake, hailed as the "Thousand-Island Lake of Shaanxi," is the largest artificial green freshwater lake among the five northwestern provinces and also a vital water source for China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. From afar, the misty waters and cloud-like islands create an environment rivaling that of Taihu Lake in the rainy Jiangnan region.

Just like the East and West Hills around Suzhou's Taihu Lake, the areas surrounding Ankang's Ying Lake also produce tea, mulberries, and loquats. The Ying Lake loquats are plump, juicy, sweet, and have a fine, pulp-free texture.

If the nourishment of the Han River has fostered the "Jiangnan in the North" fruit culture in places like Hanzhong and Ankang, then the Qinling Mountains have endowed this land with an ancient fruit heritage, the most legendary of which is the kiwifruit.

The Kiwifruit from the "Book of Songs"

Many people mistakenly believe kiwifruit is an "imported fruit."

Shaanxi's Cuixiang kiwifruit is, really, super, sweet!

Photo by Zhu Mengfei

In fact, this seemingly "exotic" fruit originates from China. The "kiwi fruit" (Actinidia deliciosa), named after New Zealand's national bird, is actually a variant of the Chinese kiwifruit. As early as 2,500 years ago, the "Book of Songs" recorded this graceful vine fruit:

"In the lowlands grows the kiwifruit, with its branches so supple and fair."

"Changchu" was the ancient name for kiwifruit. Today, China's kiwifruit is mainly produced on the northern and southern slopes of the Qinling Mountains. For every two domestically grown kiwifruits eaten in China, one comes from Shaanxi.

Zhouzhi in Xi'an and Meixian in Baoji are the main kiwifruit-producing regions in China. Meixian also produces the popular "red-heart kiwifruit." Shangnan in Shangluo cultivates the delicate and juicy "Qiuxiang" kiwifruit, while Foping County in Hanzhong, nestled in the Qinling Mountains, is home to the uniquely flavored wild Qinling kiwifruit.

And in the mountainous regions of southern Shaanxi, the Qinling Mountains nurture more ancient fruits beyond kiwifruit.

The "Book of Songs·Wei Feng" line, "You throw me a quince, and I return you a jade," finds its prototype in Ankang, southern Shaanxi. The Baihe quince produced here is not the foreign papaya but the native Chinese smooth-skinned quince, glossy as jade with both fragrance and color.

The uniquely shaped, vine-like Xunyang Hovenia dulcis is another ancient fruit from the "Book of Songs." The "Xiaoya" mentions, "On the southern mountain grows the Hovenia," referring to the Hovenia dulcis (Hovenia) produced in the Qinling Mountains (anciently called the Southern Mountain). Xunyang in Ankang produces 80% of the nation's Hovenia dulcis, which is tart at first but sweet in aftertaste.

It’s no wonder it’s Shaanxi—even its fruit-eating history is so profound.

The Guanzhong Plain is the heart of Shaanxi; Xi'an is the heart of the Guanzhong Plain.

The vast Qinchuan region boasts the richest heritage, most fertile soil, and most developed Wei River water system in the entire Northwest. The "Shangshu·Yu Gong" describes it as "the soil is yellow loam, the land is of the highest grade." Similarly, it nurtures the most abundant and sweetest fruits in all of Shaanxi.

If there were a "Golden Age of Tang" in the fruit world, it would undoubtedly be in Xi'an.

After the Beginning of Autumn, almost every Xi'an resident adds a staple activity to their holidays: fruit picking.

Xi'an's fruits are distributed across various districts and counties outside the main urban area, each boasting its own specialties. From pre-autumn to early spring, seasonal fresh fruits follow one after another, allowing a sweet journey spanning nearly half a year just by marking the calendar.

As the saying goes, "The heat lingers after autumn," and the weather remains warm. To beat the heat, Xi'an locals favor the "holy grail of fruits"—apart from Dali watermelons from Weinan, there's also Huyi grapes, especially the locally grown "Hutai No. 8," which ripens in July. With grape berries almost the size of ping-pong balls and deep purple skins coated in thick bloom, they are hailed as "the first sweetness of autumn" in Chang'an.

After that, the Jingwei fresh dates from Gaoling District launch the autumn fruit offensive, hitting the market by mid-August. They are followed by pear dates, winter dates, frost-red dates, and snow dates, with the fresh date season lasting from early autumn until late November.

September marks the golden age for fruits in Xi'an—Yanliang's crisp pears are tender and juicy, melting in the mouth like a bite of late autumn's freshness; the pomegranates at the foot of Mount Li are fiery red, and every vendor selling pomegranate juice on Muslim Street claims theirs are made from Lintong pomegranates.

Meanwhile, the Huojing persimmons, already famous through "The Longest Day in Chang'an," are vividly nicknamed "a nest of honey." With a sugar content of 16.9% and soft, glutinous flesh, just insert a straw and suck to enjoy the experience of a "natural dessert."

Only those red as fire and translucent as crystal can be called true Huojing persimmons!

By the time the dried persimmons made from Huojing persimmons are finished, winter is almost over. The locals wipe their mouths and start looking forward to picking strawberries in Chang'an District in February, enjoying melons in Yanliang in April, and hunting for cherries on White Deer Plain after Qingming Festival...

Yet even Xi'an residents, born in this "fruit paradise," can't help but drool over Weinan's fruits.

Compared to Xi'an, Weinan lies in the widest stretch of the 800-li Qinchuan Plain, where the Wei River merges with the Beiluo River before flowing into the mighty Yellow River. This creates vast alluvial plains, nestled between mountains and rivers, offering an even more favorable environment for fruit cultivation.

Thus, almost every fruit found in Xi'an has a more renowned "upgraded version" in Weinan—

Xi'an has Gaoling winter dates, while Weinan has Dali winter dates; Xi'an has Yanliang's crisp pears and melons, while Weinan has Pucheng crisp pears and Gaoshi crisp melons; and surpassing Lintong's Huojing persimmons in fame are Weinan's Fuping persimmons.

China's vast territory hosts about 300 persimmon varieties, but the Fuping pointed persimmon is universally acknowledged as the best for making dried persimmons. When ripe, they resemble tiny golden lanterns, their flesh flowing like molten sugar, sweet and luscious, almost bursting out.

Fuping locals follow nature's rhythms, using only persimmons picked after the First Frost as raw material—only when temperatures are low enough can the dried persimmons develop their enticing sugar bloom. After over a month of waiting, wind and sunlight transform them into "weather-beaten" dried persimmons, a process locals call "hanging persimmons."

A well-"hung" persimmon is like a perfectly fried soft-boiled egg—inside, radiant golden and richly dense; outside, frosty and snow-like, irresistibly sweet. One bite is enough to make the entire Northwest "succumb" to its tender charm.

Compared to southern and central Shaanxi, the rugged northern Shaanxi leaves a more intense and striking impression.

It once shaped the Chinese "stereotype" of Shaanxi—living on the Loess Plateau, dwelling in cave houses, suffering from drought, wearing white lamb belly towels to block sand, and shouting across deep ravines... In such an environment, warmth-loving and drought-resistant apples and dates became the backbone of local agriculture.

Dates are not just fruit but also a staple food.

The "Strategies of the Warring States" states, "The north benefits from dates and chestnuts; even without intensive farming, their yield suffices to feed the people." The loose soil of the Loess Plateau is prone to erosion, making farming difficult since ancient times. During past famines, dates became the locals' last line of defense against hunger.

Thus, the Shaanxi-Shanxi border along the Yellow River is one of China's earliest date-growing regions. Nihegou Village, located in eastern Yulin and facing Shanxi across the river, is hailed as "China's No. 1 Date Village." It preserves over 1,100 millennia-old date trees, firmly rooted in the loess, overlooking the endless ravines and the surging Yellow River.

The excellent air permeability of the loess soil also provides an optimal growth environment for jujube trees.

For example, in Qingjian, Yulin—the main production area of Shaanxi red dates—jujube trees are primarily planted along the banks of the Yellow River and the Wuding River. The loose soil fosters robust root systems and healthy trees. Combined with long sunlight hours and significant temperature variations between day and night, Qingjian dates are known for their small pits, thick flesh, and exceptionally rich flavor.

Even more adapted to the local climate are Shaanxi's apples.

As one of China's five major apple-producing regions, the Loess Plateau is the only area that meets all seven optimal growing conditions. In 2022, Shaanxi's apple output reached 13.0271 million tons, ranking first in the country. The large diurnal temperature difference in the region also enhances sugar accumulation, resulting in more flavorful fruit.

The long-reigning "king" of Shaanxi apples is the Luochuan apple. While Shandong's Yantai apples benefit from the mild monsoon climate's gradual nurturing, Luochuan apples from Shaanxi boast a fresh, sweet taste derived from the plateau's day-night temperature swings, making them a worthy rival.

Further south, Xianyang—where the Guanzhong Plain meets the Loess Plateau—is another major apple-producing city, with output second only to Yan'an in the province. To the west, Qianyang apples in Baoji have risen to prominence through agricultural technology, even hitching a ride on the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft to become "space apples."

More remarkably, for the Loess Plateau, fruit trees in its gullies are not just cash crops but also "guardians" against wind and sand. Nearly 10 million acres of apple orchards have significantly boosted the province's forest coverage, in a way "reshaping" the Loess Plateau and greening its countless ravines.

Local villagers in Qianyang County picking red apples in the orchard.

This embodies the character of Shaanxi's fruits—not just sweet but also responsible. It mirrors the temperament of Shaanxi people: tender as water, yet broad-minded and compassionate toward the world.