China Citrus City

　　The national agricultural tourism demonstration site “China Citrus City” is located in Xinli Town, Zhongxian County, Chongqing. The Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway passes through Xinli Town and has an expressway exit. It is 148 kilometers from downtown Chongqing and can be reached by car directly or by boat via Zhongxian County to the park.

　　Zhongxian County is situated in the heart of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, with an altitude ranging from 117 meters to 1,680 meters. It features a subtropical southeast monsoon mountain climate and is one of the most suitable regions in Asia and even the world for citrus cultivation. “China Citrus City” is a modern agricultural demonstration park with distinctive features and high tourism and sightseeing value. The (core area) scenic zone of “China Citrus City” mainly consists of a modern nursery base, a citrus technology center, a citrus expo garden, a citrus variety exhibition room, a juice processing plant, a demonstration orchard, a hotel, and more.

　　The modern nursery base is currently the world’s largest virus-free containerized strong seedling breeding base for high-quality citrus varieties, covering an area of over 2,000 acres with an annual production of more than 2.5 million citrus seedlings. Here, seedlings are cultivated entirely using modern non-toxic standard production techniques, fully demonstrating world-class modern citrus seedling cultivation technology. The technology center is supported by global technical expertise from companies such as U.S.-based Seagram (one of the Fortune 500), Brown Group, Sweden’s Tetra Pak, and Israel’s Netafim. After more than ten years of effort, it has become a top-tier citrus technology center in China. It is the largest and most comprehensively equipped citrus technology center in the country, featuring an advanced laboratory, fully functional office areas, a richly resourced library, spacious training halls, a development planning sandbox for China Citrus City, a citrus pest and disease specimen room, and a well-established technical system developed over a decade of citrus industrialization. The citrus variety expo garden is the world’s first botanical garden that combines citrus variety resources with tourism and sightseeing. It gathers citrus trees of various species from around the world—from the tiny golden bean-sized fruits to watermelon-sized oranges, and palm-shaped Buddha’s hands… At the same time, you can also admire the spectacle of different flowering periods and various fruit forms competing for attention on a single tree. Truly, one tree bears different fruits, and flowers and fruits can coexist on the same tree. The citrus tree expo garden is a garden within the “China Citrus City,” where you can experience: “View the world’s citrus without leaving the park, and admire a single tree adorned with a myriad of colorful fruits.” The citrus processing center houses the only non-concentrated orange juice production line in the Asia-Pacific region, with a total investment of 240 million yuan and all equipment imported from the world’s most advanced technologies. Currently, a 50,000-ton NFC (Not From Concentrate) fresh orange juice production line has been completed and put into operation. As the planting area continues to expand and raw materials from the plantation base increase, the site is designed to accommodate a 500,000-ton fresh fruit juicing production line. The produced “Paisenbai” brand orange juice is harvested at the peak of the fruit’s exposure to sunlight and processed within 24 hours under low-temperature conditions—without added water, sugar, preservatives, or any other additives. It is 100% natural, 100% freshly squeezed, and 100% pure, representing the finest quality of orange juice. Its completion and operation have ended the history of the Asia-Pacific region’s inability to produce fresh cold orange juice and successfully achieved China’s first export of NFC orange juice. The demonstration orchard presents a breathtaking view: lush green leaves, golden and crimson hues dotting the landscape, and rows of citrus trees undulating along the hillsides, covering every corner of the mountainous countryside and offering a delightful visual experience. Zhongxian County plans to develop a 500,000-mu (approximately 33,333 hectares) citrus base orchard. The tourism reception facilities of China Citrus City are also continuously improving, including a three-star standard “Orange Garden Hotel.” Its large barbecue area combines traditional culture with modern aesthetics and can accommodate hundreds of people. This large barbecue venue is suitable not only for large group activities and bonfire parties but also allows individuals or small groups to enjoy the barbecue experience.

　　“China Citrus City” is one of the key projects in our county’s efforts to implement a premium tourism strategy. In October 2005, “China Citrus City” was designated as a “National Agricultural Tourism Demonstration Site” by the National Tourism Administration.

　　It is the only place in China that integrates citrus breeding, seedling cultivation,

　　planting, production, processing, and sales. It is a modern agricultural industry with high efficiency, energy conservation, high yield, and full automation under industrialized production management. The Zhongxian County government has made the citrus industry a pillar industry for the entire county, and Zhongxian has now become the core area of Chongqing’s citrus industry. “China Citrus City” is a model of China’s efficient ecological and specialty agriculture, perfectly combining green ecological farming, modern high-tech citrus cultivation and processing, leisure and recreation, and beautiful rural scenery. It is an excellent destination to cultivate sentiment, gain knowledge, and connect with nature, allowing you to fully enjoy the pleasures of “sailing through vast orange seas, viewing Asia’s finest, admiring the world’s citrus, and savoring the essence of orange juice.”