Shijie Watermelon

Shijie Watermelon

　　Shijie watermelon is a famous specialty of Nanhai. According to an elderly gentleman from the town’s local chronicles office, by the early years of the Republic of China, Shijie watermelons were already widely renowned. In the past, Shijie watermelons even had a kind of “trademark”: when the melons were about to ripen, farmers would stamp their personal seals onto them. Once the melons matured, the imprints remained clearly visible, all reading something like “Shijie, [Name]”. Most impressively, in 1952, relevant departments once sent Shijie watermelons to Beijing for Chairman Mao to taste.

　　According to elderly residents of Shijie Village, watermelon cultivation here has a history of over a hundred years. The local soil is excellent, producing watermelons that are large, sweet, thin-skinned, with few seeds and lots of juice. A ripe Shijie watermelon can weigh as much as 14 to 15 pounds — if you tap it with your palm and it feels bouncy and resilient, it's a good one. These days, many watermelons from other regions are sold under the name “Shijie watermelon” in hopes of fetching a higher price.

　　Shijie watermelons were grown most extensively during the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, thousands of acres within the village were dedicated to watermelon farming. Back then, Shijie had no roads, only waterways. During the harvest season, boats lining the village’s canals were all there to transport watermelons, which were first shipped to Guangzhou and then distributed across the country.

　　Nowadays, almost all the land once used for growing watermelons has been developed for factory construction, leaving only about 200 acres of melon fields. Older villagers told the author that Shijie watermelons are particularly sweet mainly because of the area’s excellent water and soil. As a specialty of Nanhai, they hope the cultivation techniques of Shijie watermelon will be passed down through generations.