Sanhao Melons

Sanhao Melons

　　Sanhao Melons, also known as "Honey Pots" or "Rock Sugar Pots," get their name from the three villages of Donghao, Xihao, and Zhonghao located on the southern bank of the Xiao River in Yuci. In the local Yuci dialect, "Hao" and "He" sound the same, so they are also called "Sanhe" (meaning "Three Harmonies") melons.

　　　　The origins of the "Sanhao Melon" are unclear. According to historical records, in July 1704, during the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, the emperor toured the Shanxi region and arrived in Yuci. Suffering from the intense summer heat, he ate a locally grown Sanhao melon to quench his thirst and cool down. He found the flesh crisp, juicy, sweet, and delicious, instantly feeling refreshed and relieved from the heat. Delighted, he personally wrote the phrase “Intense summer heat makes days hard to endure, but the clear autumn joy returns,” and officially designated the melon as a tribute fruit for the imperial court. From then on, “every year when the melons ripened, the county magistrate would select the finest ones, pack them in baskets, transport them by mule, and have them escorted by designated personnel to the capital as tribute to the imperial court, with an annual tribute of 640 melons. After the third year of the Jiaqing reign (1798), by imperial decree, this was reduced by half—200 as the main tribute and 100 as supplementary tribute. It was not until the sixth year of the Guangxu reign (1880) that the tribute was permanently abolished.” According to the Yuci Annals, the Sanhao Melons were presented to the emperor for a total of 176 years. Hence, the "Sanhao Melon" became famous throughout the land.

　　　　The Sanhao Melon has a well-shaped form, not very large but uniformly sized, with a thin yet tough rind that is easy to preserve. The flesh is sandy, crisp, high in sugar content, and even the rind carries a sweet taste. Its most distinctive feature is that when cut in half, the flesh remains raised and the rind does not close back up. Even in the peak of summer heat, a cut melon can be left out for two days without spoiling. Wang Pingge, a renowned scholar of the late Qing Dynasty (from Xichangshou in Yuci), once wrote a poem about the Sanhao Melon: “A pure fragrance brews in the melon garden, I dare not taste it first, offering it to the sovereign. Fortunate to thrive through careful cultivation, its sweet nectar is a gift of imperial grace.”