Yanzhou Snow Pear

Yanzhou Snow Pear

　　　Product Name: Pear

　　Product Origin: Jiande and Tonglu, Hangzhou

　　Product Characteristics: White flesh, thin skin, thick and small core (pit), juicy and fine-textured without residue, sweet, fragrant, crisp, and tender in taste.

　　Product Category: Yanzhou Snow Pear, Tonglu White Pear.

　　Product Ingredients: Rich in carbohydrates, acids, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.

　　Product Season: Pear trees set fruit in May, fruits mature in mid-August, and are available on the market between Beginning of Autumn and Limit of Heat.

　　Product Efficacy: Possesses numerous medicinal benefits such as moistening lungs and intestines, quenching thirst, reducing inflammation, sobering up, and detoxifying. It can be used to treat conditions like consumptive fever, fatigue, coughing with bloody sputum, sore throat, dry mouth, and tuberculosis-related illnesses.

　　Product Introduction: Also known as Jiande White Pear, Yanzhou Snow Pear is a traditional and famous fruit from Jiande. The fruit resembles an “elegant pear” and is large in size. On one side of the stem cavity, there is often a slight oblique protrusion, the cavity itself is very small and shallow, and the stem is also slightly skewed, with a fleshy thickened base. The peel color, when unbagged, is initially green and turns yellow-green upon maturity. Yanzhou Snow Pears are highly adaptable to cultivation and can be grown in mountainous areas, flatlands, or even low-lying regions, yielding high production. Besides being eaten fresh, they can also be processed into canned pears, pear preserves, dried pears, pear wine, and more. Tonglu White Pear features large fruit size, small core, thin skin, white flesh, sweet and juicy taste, and a crisp, delicate texture. Those harvested during Bailu (White Dew) are especially prized. Major production areas include local Jinxi Township and Sanhe Township.

　　Product Story: In the 17th year of the Jian’an era during the Eastern Han Dynasty (212 AD), Sun Quan, following Zhuge Liang’s advice, moved the capital to Moling and renamed it Jianye. Legend has it that during the Han Dynasty, there was a man named Aizhong in Moling who grew pears of unusually large size and delicious taste—crisp, tender, and melting in the mouth—which were called “Aizhong Pears” at the time. In the classical novel “Youmengying” (Dream Shadows) from after the Tang Dynasty, there is a passage describing Aizhong Pears: “Among the collected words, some are as swift as a Bingzhou scissors, some as refreshing as Aizhong pears, some as elegant as the music of Heaven.” This shows how renowned Aizhong Pears were. Due to their fame, people in those days often took pride in being able to eat Aizhong Pears. Some who wished to show off their wealth and sophistication went to great lengths to obtain them. However, after getting the pears, they steamed them in a steamer basket before eating. Pears are meant to be eaten raw to enjoy their crisp and tender flavor, especially the Aizhong Pear, which was famed for these qualities. Thus, the phrase “steaming Aizhong Pears” came to describe not knowing how to appreciate something’s strengths and foolishly ruining it.