Huocheng Apples

Huocheng Apples

　　The Ili River Valley has a long history of apple cultivation, featuring premium varieties and abundant yields, making it a renowned apple-producing region in Xinjiang. The Ili region is one of the birthplaces of the world's apples, still home to 140,000 mu of rare primeval wild apple forests—rare across China—which provide valuable genetic resources for cultivated apples. Located within Huocheng County, “Almalik” is the world’s only city named after apples. The name Almalik comes from the Turkic language, meaning “Apple City.”

　　In the Yuan Dynasty, the Ili River was called the Yila River, where “Yila” means apple. Xinjiang now has over 100 apple varieties, including famous local ones such as Aport, Red Monpace, Golden Tigan, Yellow Delicious, and Ili Guoguang. These varieties are grown in Huocheng.

　　Liu Yu of the Yuan Dynasty wrote in “The Western Expedition Record”: “Exiting the pass (now Guozigou) to the city of Almalik, the streets were all crisscrossed with flowing water, and there were many fruits, but melons, grapes, and pomegranates were the best.” This shows that fruit cultivation in Huocheng County has been documented since ancient times.

　　Huocheng County enjoys highly favorable natural conditions for cultivating fruits such as apples, grapes, apricots, and peaches. It has the optimal latitude and altitude for fruit growth, with abundant sunlight, large diurnal temperature variations, strong ultraviolet radiation, a pleasant climate, and unique inversion layer climate resources. The apples produced here are bright red in color, fragrant in aroma, moderately sweet and sour, of high quality, and resistant to storage and transportation.

　　Currently, the apple cultivation area in Huocheng County is second only to that of grapes. The main cultivation areas are at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and the planned Ili Red Apple Base will eventually cover 100,000 mu. At the same time, Huocheng County is also collaborating with Xinjiang Nongfu Orchard Huocheng Fruit Industry Development Co., Ltd. to build a high-acid apple base. High-acid apples are a type of raw material fruit mainly used in food processing and juice extraction.

　　Author: Chen Youming