Haiyuan Melons

Haiyuan Melons

　　There are many places in Guyuan that grow melons, but the melons from Caochang Village, Ga’an Township, Haiyuan County, stand out for their tender, sweet, and sandy flesh, winning great affection from consumers.

Locally, about 400 acres of melons are planted each year, with varieties such as Wallace, Miguai, and Mibao. Before the 1970s, due to inadequate cultivation techniques, the villagers of Caochang stuck with local old varieties—small-sized, thick-skinned, late to market, mostly grown on gravel-mulched land, with small planting areas and low yields, making it difficult to achieve commercial scale. After the 1980s, superior varieties were introduced and plastic mulching cultivation techniques were adopted, leading to rapid increases in both yield and planted area, while quality has also continuously improved. The melons produced here are now dubbed "honey jars." On a hot summer day, biting into one fills your mouth with fragrance, and the sandy-sweet flesh sliding down feels like sugar, instantly cooling your whole body—quenching thirst and relieving summer heat.