It’s summertime, which means it’s lychee season in Hainan, and in Sanya one can see street vendors selling big piles of lychees on every corner.
 
 
 
Hainan’s fertile tropical soil has nurtured various species of lychee. Each type of lychee has a unique flavor and texture. The seedless lychee is one of the most popular varieties on the island.
 
Wang Tingbiao, a Hainan local farmer, was reportedly the first person to invent and successfully grow seedless lychees in 1997. At present, seedless lychees are widely cultivated in cities and counties such as Wenchang, Haikou, Ding’an, and Lingao. 
 
 
 
The seedless lychees were not created in a lab; the biological occurrence known as “stenospermocarpy” is what causes the lychee fruits to be seedless.
 
Chengmai, as a world-famous "longevity village," is the only large-scale seedless lychee plantation on the tropical island. 
 
 
 
Located at 19° north latitude, Chengmai has an annual average temperature of 23.7 degrees Celsius, sufficient sun, abundant rain, and soil rich in selenium from volcanic ash, where geographical conditions are ideal for the growth of seedless lychee. 
 
 
The most famous town for lychee cultivation in the area is Qiaotou Town (桥头镇), a small community with over three million square meters of lychee orchards and 19 years of seedless lychee cultivation history.
 
The new variety of lychee plant, on which each twig bears only two fruits, yields a succulent, juicy fruit. It tastes much sweeter than other types of lychee.
 
 
 
 
 
Lychee has a very short shelf life. This is why it is available for a limited time even during its season. In Hainan, the seedless lychee harvest stretches from late May through mid-June. 
 
 
 
Seedless lychee is what many travelers look forward to eating when visiting Hainan this hot summer season.
 
SOURCE: WOS Team