Bayberry Picking Guide: Where Can You Pick Bayberries Around Xiamen?
It's bayberry season again, and just thinking about it makes my mouth water. No sooner had my mouth started watering and I'd only just tasted my first bayberry than wave after wave of picking groups were already heading out. So where around Xiamen can you pick bayberries?
1. Yizhuang Bayberry Orchard in Guankou, Jimei
Yizhuang Orchard grows more than 200 mu of bayberry trees, and the bayberries they produce are large and plump. During the May Day holiday, quite a few regular customers had already flocked to Yizhuang to get an early taste of the bayberries. The bayberry orchard on Dabanshan is a relatively large bayberry-growing area in Xiamen. Yizhuang makes full use of its high-mountain advantage, planting extra-early, early, mid-season and late-maturing varieties in separate plots according to their ripening times, thereby greatly extending the picking season. Here the bayberry picking season can last nearly two months.
In addition, the farm also offers fishing and farmhouse-style food.
Admission: free; picking is charged
Address: Dabanshan, Donghui Village, Guankou Town, Jimei, Xiamen
Bus: From the island — take bus route 925 and get off at Donghui Village, walk straight ahead for 2 km, and you will see the Yizhuang Bayberry Orchard sign by the roadside.
By car:
From the island — Xinglin Bridge — Guankou (turn left at the traffic light 3 km toward Tong'an; the gas station is on the left) — Donghui
From the island — Jimei Bridge — Houxi (turn left at the junction of Sunban Road and Route 324) — toward Guankou — Donghui
2. Tianzhushan Bayberry Orchard in Haicang
In the bayberry groves of Tianzhushan, you can not only pick bayberries but also enjoy farm food and take in the pastoral scenery. The person in charge of the bayberry grove says there are currently more than 1,000 bayberry trees, covering a planting area of 30 mu. Dongkui bayberry and Yingsi bayberry are the main varieties in this orchard. Dongkui bayberry is rich in glucose, fructose, citric acid, malic acid and various vitamins, and can be eaten directly. Yingsi bayberry has a crisp, refreshing texture and firmer flesh, making it suitable for processing.
Tianzhushan is very large, so where is the bayberry orchard? Just follow the wooden boardwalk along Lianger Lake; when you reach the end, you will see a large expanse of bayberries, with the branches covered in fruit.
Address: No. 1 Tianzhushan Road, Hongtang Village, Dongfu Town, Haicang District, Xiamen, 36 km from downtown Xiamen
Admission: Tianzhushan admission is 30 yuan/person; picking is charged
Bus: From the island, take bus 840 to Guoban Station, then transfer to bus 805 to Tianzhushan East Gate
By car: Take National Highway 324, enter at the Hongtang Village entrance in Dongfu; this is still before Dongfu. After entering from Hongtang Village, you will see the Tianzhushan Forest Park Management Office, then follow the cement road to the left.
3. Shiquan Villa Bayberry Grove in Haicang
Shiquan Villa has more than 300 bayberry trees in total, covering dozens of mu, with 2-3 varieties and a picking season of nearly one month. Unlike some artificially ripened bayberries on the market, the native bayberries at Shiquan Villa are original, pollution-free food. Visitors can pick them themselves and taste the bayberries in their purest form. However, it is said that the bayberries here do not have a very good “appearance” and look rather small.
That said, Shiquan Villa has separate planting and livestock areas, and from poultry and livestock to river fish and vegetables, the villa can be almost self-sufficient. Besides picking, visitors here can also enjoy a farm-stay experience.
Address: Caijianwei Mountain Scenic Area beside the Haicang Living Area. It is 1,500 m from the Haicang Living Area and only a 15-minute drive from the island.
By car: After getting off the Haicang Bridge, take Maqing Road and pass the first traffic light, which is the three-way intersection leading to the living area. Do not turn left; go straight, move into the far right lane, and before long you will see the “Shifengyan Temple” road sign. Turn right up the hill and you will arrive.
4. Dongpingshan Bayberry Orchard on the Island
The bayberries here cover about 20 mu, making it a great place to pick on the island. There has been rainfall recently and the weather is relatively humid, so the bayberries are basically ripe.
Price: 10 yuan admission; picking is charged
Bus: Get off at the [Xilin Yunding] stop and go up, walk forward and turn right onto Xilin East Road, then climb up via Yundingyan Road; if you see bayberry picking, it is at the innermost part of Dongpingshan Reservoir. (PS: the walking distance is relatively long, nearly 1 hour.)
By car: Xilin East Road — Yundingyan Road — Jinji South Road, turn right. Follow Guanyin Mountain Road straight ahead, pass the reservoir, and ahead there is a fork in the road with a sign beside it reading “Self-pick Bayberry Suyuan Nursery.” Turn right and go straight to arrive.
5. Huweishan Bayberry Orchard on the Island
Another great place for picking on the island is Huweishan Bayberry Orchard. It is understood that the 800 bayberry trees here have produced an abundant crop, with red bayberries hanging all over the branches. Staff here say that the bayberries on Huweishan are not sprayed with pesticides or treated with hormones, and this year's taste and sweetness are better than in previous years. In addition, the bayberries here will be past their ripe period by around the end of May, so friends on the island should hurry.
Bus: Take a bus to the [Commodity Inspection Station] stop and get off, then walk about 1 km toward the weather station in the direction of Haishang Mingzhu and you will see the orchard.
By car: From Dongdu Haishan Road, turn up toward Dongrong Community Square and go straight for 200 m to reach the orchard.