Jingxiang Premium Plums

Jingxiang Premium Plums

　　　The Jingxiang Temple in Xinfeng Town, Nanhu District, Jiaxing, is renowned for its premium plums, hailed by poets as “Jingxiang’s Finest Plums.” Historical records indicate that the cultivation of these plums dates back over 2,400 years. While southern lychees and western capital grapes are considered the finest among fruits, the Jingxiang plum is especially exquisite, also known as the “Drunken Plum.” These plums are produced in the Jiaxing area of Zhejiang. During the conflict between the states of Wu and Yue, when Wu emerged victorious and Yue was defeated, King Goujian of Yue sought peace and sent Fan Li to deliver Xi Shi to Wu. On their way through Jiaxing, locals offered Jingxiang plums by the roadside. After tasting one, Xi Shi fell into a deep sleep beneath the tree, leaving behind the delicate imprint of her fingernail on the fruit. Since then, the tale of the beauty and the fruit has become a celebrated story.

　　　　The history of Jingxiang plum cultivation continued through the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties into modern times. Due to wars and demands from officials, the plum nearly went extinct, with only a few surviving plants transplanted in Zhulin Jingxiang Village to the west. With careful nurturing, these trees grew to produce a dozen or so fruits each, yielding over a thousand pounds of plums annually. A new Jingxiang plum orchard spanning more than 30 acres has also been established. The Jingxiang plum is extremely delicate—thousands of blossoms may yield only a single fruit. The resulting plum is flat and round, with a deep red skin dotted with golden specks and an intoxicatingly fragrant aroma when ripe. Its flesh is succulent and translucent like amber; piercing the skin allows the juice to be savored in a single sip—a nectar-like taste with a unique charm. In 2000, it won the Zhejiang Provincial First Prize for both quality and fruit shape.