Summer in China is not complete without watermelons...

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘴...

video source chinainsider IG - Guizhou province

Original from Africa, watermelon (西瓜, Xīguā, "melon of the west") has been cultivated in China since around the 10th century, having been precious emperor fruits in several earlier dynasties. Today about 70% of watermelons in the world are consumed in China.

Watermelons are a common traditional gift when visiting somebody else's home during summertime and in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), watermelons are considered to relieve summer heat exhaustion, thirst and irritability. Roasted watermelon seeds are a popular snack as well and health wise beneficial for digestion and urinary tract infections. Watermelon seeds powder is used in TCM herbal medicine formulations.

One of the earlier records of watermelon in Chinese poetry is from Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo (1037-1101) who saw watermelon as "something to be found only in heaven". He wrote following poem :

"𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩,

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴;

𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤,

𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵"

#watermelon #traditionalchinesemedicine #tcm