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["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]



"Pai Li is small size, with hard, crisp fruit.  Not very good quality, unless what I have is not Pai Li. "

 

 

Richard, 

    The description Corvallis has is a winter pear for storage that will soften up eventually, and is good quality when fully ripe.  Did you get your Pai Li from Corvallis?  I note that runs 1.5 to 2" diameter,  which they describe as "medium" in size.  I'd think of that as "small".  It's apple shaped, doesn't look very big in their photos.  Do you remember whether it was tart or not when picked?  Note the mention below of the Chinese not caring much for tart fruits.  I've read that the Chinese eat their fruit much greener than we do, a sensible practice if food tends to be in short supply.  Close to harvest time a lot of fruit gets lost to bugs and critters.  Of course they have eaten most of the critters over there. 

    I really don't care much for the oriental pears I have tasted.  I bought a Ya Li pear recently at a multicultural do at TN Tech, it was dreadful.  Fortunately we happened to be sitting opposite an old couple who'd spent years in Japan, and they enjoyed it very much.   The old Pineapple pear is the only one I have liked so far, maybe because I can pick it locally and ripe, but it's also tart.  I find fruit that is merely sweet rather boring.   Donna

 

 

Description: Pai Li originated from Honan, China. The fruits are large, pyriform, and greenish yellow. The flesh is granular, juicy, with a fair quality. The trees are vigorous. In Chico, California, Pai Li season begins early in August. -- Pu Fu Shen. 1989.

Pai Li is probably the most popular pear among the Chinese in north China, and is it is also very highly regarded by all foreigners. The sweet flavor of this variety especially appeals to the Chinese, and it must also be added that most Chinese do not care for the tart and sub-acid fruits which we regard so highly in this country... The Pai Li is medium in size, usually 1.5 to 2 inches, although occasionally 2.5 inches in diameter. It is roundish or slightly oblate in shape. The color is a light lemon yellow, with many small inconspicuous cinnamon dots; and the skin is smooth, shiny and quite thin. The calyx is deciduous in about 80% of the fruits and persistent or partly so, in the remainder. At picking time, the flesh is firm, but becomes mellow, tender and is juicy whent ready to eat. No grit cells are noticeable except around the core as in the European pears. The flavor is sweet and very agreeable. In quality, it compares very well with the better European pears. It is an excellent keeper and can be obtained on the Peking market from October to the first of March.

In north China this is often known as the 'Peking Pear' as it is very papular at Peking and many other markets obtain their supply there. It is also extensively grown in the neighborhood of that city. This should prove a valuable pear for home use in local markets in America. It should also prove of value in breeding work, as it is of excellent quality and a splendid keeper, an possibly also in breeding blight resistant varieties as it appears to be a hybrid with P. ussuriensis as one of its parents. -- F.C. Reimer. 1919. Report of a trip to the Orient to collect and study Oriental pears.