When do Ningxia watermelons generally ripen?

Ningxia watermelons generally come onto the market in mid-July each year and leave the market in mid-September. The Ningxia watermelon is a variety of watermelon found throughout Ningxia, most abundantly in the suburbs of the 5 cities of Yinchuan, Shizuishan, Wuzhong, Qingtongxia and Lingwu, as well as in the counties of Zhongwei, Zhongning, Yongning and Taole. Ningxia watermelons taste as sweet as honey and are crisper than pears; the Kangxi Emperor once praised their sweetness and called them the “king of melons”.

Product characteristics of Ningxia watermelons: Ningxia's summers are hot with little rain, a large temperature difference between day and night, and long sunshine hours, which enhance the glucose, vitamins and amino acids in the watermelons, giving Ningxia watermelons their unique and excellent qualities, so that they taste as sweet as honey and are crisper than pears.

Ningxia Zhongwei selenium-sand watermelon: a specialty of Zhongwei City in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Because it is rich in the healthy element “selenium”, it is also called “Zhongwei selenium-sand watermelon”, and is known as the “Gobi watermelon” and the “watermelon from the cracks in the stones”. The watermelons produced are not only large and sweet but also thick-skinned and hard-fleshed, tolerant of storage and transport, with a natural freshness life of more than 50 days.