North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[rob hamilton <lostman_amiga@yahoo.com>]

I dont know how true this is, but I was sent this
article by a friend.  I thought you all would get a
kick out ouf it.

Robert

Note: forwarded message attached.


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--- Begin Message ---

• From: Hope Johnson <hopemail@earthlink.net>
• To: robert hamilton <lostman_amiga@yahoo.com>
• Subject: Chinese Lychee Auctioned for $67,000
• Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 09:13:36 -0400

Chinese Lychee Auctioned for $67,000



BEIJING (AP)--How much would you pay for a piece of fresh fruit? If it's
from a tree four centuries old that once fed emperors, try $67,000.

A single rare lychee weighing about half an ounce fetched a record price of
about $67,000 at an auction Sunday in Zengcheng, a city in southern China's
Guangdong province, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

Here's why: The lychee, a small fruit with bumpy skin and juicy white flesh,
was produced by a rare tree named Xiyuangualu. More than 400 years old, it
yields only a few dozen lychees per year, Xinhua said, citing unidentified
local sources.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), under the emperors Qianlong and
Jiaqing, Xiyuangualu lychees served as tributes to the imperial court and
were dubbed ``the king of fruit.''

The bank-breaking lychee was bought by a Guangdong firm, Xintang
International Jeans Town.

Money from the this year's auction will be used for education _ and for
upkeep for the valuable trees, Xinhua said.

Zengcheng's high rainfall makes it an ideal place for growing such
subtropical fruits as lychees and longans. The district has devoted nearly
100,000 acres to lychee cultivation this year, Xinhua said.


AP-NY-07-01-02 0840EDT

Copyright 2002, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without
the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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