Changxing Green Plums

Changxing Green Plums

　　Plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum are known as the “Four Gentlemen,” with plum ranked first among them. Therefore, green plums serve not only as fruit trees but also as ornamental plants. With their robust and hardy forms, they bloom in the cold of winter—elegant and graceful, simple and refined—long regarded as symbols of steadfastness and noble purity. The fruits of the plum can be used as raw materials for making preserves, jams, candies, and beverages. For example, when green plums are smoked or dried, they are processed into the medicinal dark plums (乌梅), while salted green plums are called white plums (白梅). In recent years, green plums have found increasing use in food and the production of refreshing drinks, leading to even broader market demand. Plum fruits hold high medicinal value. Dark plums help to constrict the lungs, astringe the intestines, quench long-term thirst, relieve diarrhea and dysentery, reduce swelling, and kill parasites. White plums can treat various conditions such as wind epilepsy, throat blockage, phlegm syncope collapse, cholera vomiting and diarrhea, and more. The Japanese medical community recognizes that dark plum syrup (made from dark plums) is widely applicable and highly effective. Plum trees prefer mountainous areas. In our city, the areas abundant in green plums include Meixi in Anji and Hexi in Changxing. Particularly, the dark plums produced and processed in Hexi, Changxing, known as “Hexi Plums (合梅),” have enjoyed a long-standing reputation throughout history. (Huzhou)