Gushan Lychees

Gushan Lychees

Gushan lychees are a protected geographical indication product.

　　Gushan lychees, a specialty of Gushan Town in Yongchun County, Fujian Province, are of the Wuye (dark leaf) lychee variety. Renowned for their excellent color, aroma, and taste, they have been celebrated far and wide. As early as the Song Dynasty, they were listed among the finest varieties and recorded in the "Lychee Treatise."

　　The cultivation of Gushan lychees boasts a long history. During the Song Dynasty, the great statesman and calligrapher Cai Xiang, while serving as prefect of Quanzhou, once traveled to the "Sacred Spring" at Mount Le, the top mountain in Yongchun, to pray for rain on behalf of the people. It was during the height of summer (Great and Lesser Heat periods), when local villagers presented him with bunches of bright red Wuye lychees to taste. Having grown up in Xinghua Prefecture (now Xianyou County, Fujian), a land of lychees, Magistrate Cai found the Wuye lychees even more delicious than those from Xinghua, with pits even smaller than peanuts (known as coked pits). He also noticed that the tree canopies of the Wuye lychees were taller and lusher compared to the famed "Zhuangyuan Hong" (Number One Scholar Red) variety from Xinghua, prompting him to applaud and heap praise. Later, Cai Xiang included the Yongchun Wuye lychees among the finest varieties in his renowned work, the "Lychee Treatise." During the Ming Dynasty, Cao Xuequan, who served as Minister of Rites in Fujian Province, held Gushan lychees in high esteem, declaring, “If one were to crown a king of fruits across the land, the fresh lychee would surely be first.”

　　Gushan Wuye lychees feature thin skins, tiny pits (95% are coked pits), thick flesh, abundant juice, and a sweet, refreshing, and smooth taste. They are not only highly praised in southern Fujian but also renowned overseas. Many overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau from Yongchun often return home during the lychee fragrance season to savor this uniquely flavorful delicacy. The Wuye lychee is a precious fruit of exceptional color, aroma, and taste, rich in nutrients—including a high sugar content, moderate organic acids, and various vitamins—and is regarded as a tonic. According to Li Shizhen’s "Compendium of Materia Medica," “Regular consumption of lychees can nourish the brain and strengthen the body, treat miasmic sores and swellings, stimulate appetite and benefit the spleen. Dried lychees can replenish vitality and serve as a tonic for women after childbirth and for the elderly or infirm.”