Longan Fruit. A Delicious Berry Sold At Pavement Stall In Guilin

Seeing longan fruit on a pavement stall in Guilin brought back memories of being in Longzhou at the appropriate time and seeing many houses in front of which longan berries were spread out on the pavements to dry in the hot sun. On another occasion, traveling by car from Longzhou to Pingziang, some parts of a mountain road had been taken over by farmers, so that they could spread their crop of longan berries to dry on the road! These 'drying areas' for longan berries were well protected from traffic by large stones, but this arrangement seemed to be an accepted custom of the local farmers, and vehicle drivers. Depending on which way the wind was blowing, if there happened to be any wind, the scent of the drying longan berries could be detected long before arriving at the ''drying area''.

Longan berries displayed by the stallholder in Guilin were amongst other fresh fruit being sold. These longan berries were a seasonable fruit probably grown locally as many parts of China have suitable weather conditions.

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Dried longan are often used in Chinese cuisine and Chinese sweet dessert soups. In Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, it is believed to have an effect on relaxation. In contrast with the fresh fruit, which is juicy and white, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. In Chinese medicine the longan, much like the lychee, is considered a "warm" fruit. *** Src: Wikipedia.org.