Tuncheng Lychees

Tuncheng Lychees

　　Tuncheng lychees are a specialty of Tuncheng County in Hainan Province. Tuncheng is one of the original lychee-growing regions, with a long cultivation history and abundant planting resources, including both wild lychees and cultivated seedling trees. The fruits have a bright red, attractive skin, crisp and juicy flesh that is sweet and fragrant, rich in nutrients. Besides being eaten fresh, they can also be made into dried fruit, canned goods, juice, and fruit wine. Tuncheng lychees are hailed as a "treasure of China" and are one of the leading export products for earning foreign exchange.

　　Tuncheng County is a hilly and semi-hilly mountainous area, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a low-lying basin in the center that resembles a treasure bowl. It enjoys a mild and moist climate with abundant sunshine, giving it unique natural resource advantages for developing tropical fruits. Since the mid-1990s, the tropical fruit industry, mainly lychees, has seen significant development and has now become an emerging sector of the county’s agricultural economy. The county currently has 32,000 mu of lychee plantations, with major varieties including Feizixiao and Dadingshang, all of which have entered full harvest periods. It is the largest Dadingshang lychee production base in Hainan Province and one of the main Feizixiao lychee production bases.

　　Since 1994, Tuncheng County has added 21,000 mu of new lychee plantations, accounting for 57% of the county’s total fruit planting area. Among these, 13,500 mu are suitable for bearing fruit, with 6,500 mu already in production, yielding a total harvest of 1,950 tons. This has generated an output value of 19.5 million yuan. Currently, Tuncheng lychee plantations are mainly distributed across four towns: Xinxing, Datong, Tunjiao, and Nankun. The main varieties planted include Goose Egg, Feizixiao, Large and Small Dingshang, and March Red. These are early-maturing varieties, offering the advantages of quick market entry and high returns. Their flowering period is concentrated around the Spring Festival, and the fruits ripen relatively early compared to other varieties, becoming available in May—15–22 days earlier than those in Guangdong and Guangxi. Around 95% of the produce is transported north to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where demand outstrips supply.

　　To grow and strengthen the lychee industry, our county focuses on building a brand, enhancing product quality and safety, and vigorously promoting pollution-free lychee brands. In 2003, we applied for and obtained certification for 16,000 mu of pollution-free agricultural product production areas in Hainan Province. In the same year, the county was listed as a national standardized lychee demonstration zone—the only county or city in the province to receive this honor. In 2004, we received our first national pollution-free agricultural product certification, and now six demonstration bases covering 2,850 mu have been certified by the Ministry of Agriculture as pollution-free agricultural products. In 2004, we established a lychee cold storage facility with a daily processing capacity of 20 tons, marking a historic breakthrough in agricultural product exports. That year, 44 tons were exported to the EU, followed by 52 tons to the United States the next year. In 2005, six of our county’s lychee plantation bases were awarded export filing base qualifications in Hainan Province, accounting for the vast majority of such bases in the province. While advancing standardized production, our county actively applied for lychee brand registrations. Current brands include "Tuncheng Xiangfei Lychee" and "Kunbo" Lychee.