Cenxi Pomelo

Cenxi Pomelo

　　Pomelos come in sweet and sour varieties (commonly known as "pulukezi"). The flesh of sour pomelos is red and tastes astringent and sour. The main type cultivated around the city is the sweet pomelo, commonly called "yang’ezhi," which is pointed at the top, has a round navel at the bottom, yellow skin, large fruit, white flesh, and a sweet taste—comparable to the Shatian pomelo from Rongxian. It is mainly produced in towns such as Botang, Nandu, Sanbao, Da, and Chengjian.

Pomelos were already being shipped to Hong Kong and Macau before the liberation. In the second year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1910), a survey and statistical report on commodities produced in Wuzhou Prefecture, Guangxi, noted that Cenxi had 30,000 pomelo trees (not including those in towns such as Sanbao, Botang, Nuodong, and Taiping). By 1990, the county’s annual pomelo production had reached over 300 tons. In recent years, leading departments and local communities have prioritized pomelo cultivation as a key fruit industry, with the planted area now reaching 8,800 mu.