Blood pomelo cultivation brings wealth, red pomelo becomes the fruit of prosperity

Pomelos are very common, but he says the bloody ones are terrifying. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, his orders had already reached more than 200,000 jin, and many people were giving him money, but he did not dare take it. Special knife marks on the pomelo trees brought him enormous wealth. Lifting pomelos, some people lifted until their arms ached; eating pomelos, some people ate until they sprayed juice everywhere; having fun while making money, see how Lu Guoyuan from Fujian sells pomelos from his hometown to places thousands of li away, making them popular throughout the streets and alleys of Xi'an.

These past few days, Lu Guoyuan has been very anxious. He made a special trip back from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province to his hometown of Pinghe County to check on the growth of the pomelos, because before the Mid-Autumn Festival his orders had already reached more than 200,000 jin, and many people were giving him money, but he did not dare take it.

Lu Guoyuan: Right now there should be more than 200,000 (jin) in orders, and we don't dare take their money. They call every day, they call every day, they urge every day, and they urge me until I get more anxious by the day.

With more than 200,000 jin in orders, if he cannot supply them in time, Lu Guoyuan will lose the trust of his customers. But when the reporter interviewed him, he had not harvested a single jin of pomelos. With so many orders, why was he not harvesting pomelos?

Lu Guoyuan: Right now, this pomelo, if you pick it now, the taste still isn't good enough. Look, this one is still green, and the top here is also green. The time isn't enough. Come on, let's go look somewhere else.

It turned out that because of the temperature, this year the pomelos ripened more than 10 days later than in previous years. To ensure the quality of the pomelos, Lu Guoyuan had not harvested a single jin.

The reporter followed Lu Guoyuan to different planting bases to learn about the ripening of the pomelos together. When they arrived at this planting base, Lu Guoyuan suddenly became happy.

Lu Guoyuan: This kind of pomelo can be harvested in another two days. This is very good, very quick. Let's open one and taste it and see. The pomelo flesh, look, it's translucent and bright. It has plenty of juice, a lot of juice. When you eat it, when you bite into it, it's fresh and sweet, slightly sour, very juicy, and it tastes very full. This kind (of skin) is fairly thin, thin. In a bit we have even more varieties here, for comparison, don't let it scare you.

There is actually a terrifying pomelo? This made the reporter very eager to see it.

This was that terrifying pomelo Lu Guoyuan had mentioned. From the outside, this pomelo looked different from other pomelos.

Lu Guoyuan: The inside is a bit more terrifying. Get ready. This pomelo is still different from other pomelos.

Reporter Wen Penghe: This isn't going to open up to be a watermelon, is it?

Lu Guoyuan: You say watermelon, a little, a little like a watermelon, but it's not a watermelon.

Reporter Wen Penghe: Oh my, so beautiful.

Lu Guoyuan: Peel it to here and take a look. See if you've ever seen this.

Reporter Wen Penghe: This peel is red too.

Lu Guoyuan: Right, this is what we call Sanhong honey pomelo. The flesh part is red too, and this peel part is red too, and there is also the spongy tissue part. Things like the spongy tissue are all red. Sanhong honey pomelo means these three parts are all red. (If) a few days pass, it will get even redder, blood-red. That's why I just told you it's terrifying when you open it.

Reporter Wen Penghe: Just because of the blood-red color?

Lu Guoyuan: Yes, yes, yes. If it's ripe, the color when you bite into it is all red.

This is the Sanhong honey pomelo. Not only is the flesh inside red, even the spongy tissue under the peel is red. Lu Guoyuan calls this kind of pomelo the "terrifying pomelo."

Guanxi honey pomelo has thin skin and lots of juice, soft flesh, and a fresh, sweet, slightly sour taste. It is a famous variety in pomelo cultivation. Before 2008, local villagers planted pomelos in large quantities. The county's pomelo planting area was more than 600,000 mu, with an annual output of over one million tons, which ultimately led to fierce market competition and unsold pomelos, leaving local villagers worried and distressed all day.

Lu Guoyuan's older brother Lu Guoshen: They sold for five or six mao, and in the end the losses were terrible. They all sold at a discount, even down to three mao, and the losses were a complete mess.

Pomelo grower Lin Yinci: In the past, pomelos didn't sell for a good price, but because they came to buy, our prices went up.

But Lu Guoyuan won with three moves. The first was opening up a sales channel for pomelos, and in 2015 sales reached more than 20 million yuan.

Deputy County Mayor of Pinghe County, Fujian Province: President Lu's sales model is a model our government will promote in the future. It should be said that we (Pinghe County) rank among the larger distributors across the country.

Lu Guoyuan is not only a big name in his hometown of Pinghe County, but also very famous in Xi'an, more than 3,000 li away. So, before the 2016 Mid-Autumn Festival, could Lu Guoyuan complete this order of more than 200,000 jin of pomelos?

Starting in 2007, a news event happened every year in Xi'an. This news was about the Party Secretary of Pinghe County, Fujian Province, leading local officials to travel more than 3,000 li to Xi'an to set up a street stall and sell pomelos. Why did they travel all the way from Fujian Province to the streets of Xi'an to sell pomelos? All of this is related to Lu Guoyuan.

One day in September 2006, Lu Guoyuan's older brother hauled more than 100,000 jin of pomelos to Xi'an to find him, because that year the pomelo harvest was abundant, and in their hometown of Pinghe County they could not sell them even at six mao per jin.

Lu Guoyuan's older brother Lu Guoshen: They wouldn't move here. At the time we hauled them to Quanzhou and Fuzhou, all to that side, and when the pomelos got there they piled up like mountains and still wouldn't sell.

Wherever Lu Guoyuan's older brother hauled the pomelos, he lost money. With no other choice, he could only ask Lu Guoyuan, who was doing a valve business in Xi'an, to help find a way out.

Lu Guoyuan: When they were unloaded, the people buying fruit in Xi'an said, what is this?

What is this?

At that time, many local people in Xi'an still did not know pomelos, let alone how to eat them. It took Lu Guoyuan more than 5 months to sell all these more than 100,000 jin of pomelos, and he also lost more than 60,000 yuan. Selling was laborious and did not make money. Lu Guoyuan was not resigned to this. He wanted to find a way to sell the vast stretches of pomelos from his hometown for a good price.

The next year, as soon as pomelos hit the market, Lu Guoyuan began implementing his method. This method made his pomelos sell extremely well and quickly captured the terminal market in Xi'an.

Lu Guoyuan: The game is about to begin.

That day, Lu Guoyuan was holding a free pomelo-tasting event. Besides passersby being able to eat pomelos freely, Lu Guoyuan also organized many small games.

Lu Guoyuan: Let me say this, I'll call 123, and only then can you start. See who can finish the pomelo fastest. The fastest eater, (the prize is red-fleshed honey pomelo) get ready, 123.

Seeing that all these plates of pomelos could be eaten for free, the beauties, handsome guys, and aunties all ate with all their might, eating with real effort.

Lu Guoyuan: Use your hands, use your mouth, hurry, hahaha, isn't it just too delicious.

After the pomelo-eating contest ended, Lu Guoyuan immediately started a pomelo-lifting contest.

Lu Guoyuan: Game rules: one person holds up one pomelo. You can choose the size yourself. Stretch out your hand, and if you can hold it like this for five minutes, you can take the pomelo home for free.

As soon as everyone heard that they could take a pomelo home for free if they held it up for five minutes, they immediately became interested. Now this was good. Everyone rushed to pick the big pomelos.

Lu Guoyuan: Listen to my command. 123 start. Come on, stretch your hand flat, your hand must be flat.

These five minutes did not sound long, but for the people lifting the pomelos it was too long. After two minutes, many people's faces became distorted.

Lu Guoyuan: Almost there, almost there, almost there.

Time passed slowly. Some people were unwilling to give up even when their arms were shaking. The scene was very lively.

Reporter: Your arm is already shaking?

Lu Guoyuan: Come on, your hand is shaking, come on. Look, the muscles have already been trained out. Look, three, two, one, okay, thank you.

Lu Guoyuan told the reporter that in previous years, when the Pinghe County Party Secretary led the way selling pomelos from a street stall in Xi'an, it was just like the scene now, very lively. And all of this was planned by Lu Guoyuan.

Deputy County Mayor of the People's Government of Pinghe County, Fujian Province: At the time we were also thinking about how to promote these pomelos. His ideas and the government's ideas were the same, coinciding perfectly.

Lu Guoyuan: At the time I thought, I also wanted to do it this way on purpose, because this is indeed quite different from others.

It turned out that Lu Guoyuan had deliberately invited the county leaders from his hometown to the streets of Xi'an to promote Pinghe County's pomelos. Because at the time, not many people in Xi'an sold pomelos. After the publicity, Lu Guoyuan quickly opened up the Xi'an pomelo market.

Lu Guoyuan originally was only helping his brother sell pomelos, but now instead he had found a new path to wealth for himself. But the good times did not last long. Before long, he began to worry.

In 2009, more and more people in the Xi'an market were selling pomelos, and the quality was uneven. How could consumers eat good-quality pomelos?

Lu Guoyuan: Look at so many, all over the mountains and plains are pomelos. There are differences, and it's not completely one hundred percent. But now we want to register. Once we have a trademark, we pay even more attention to quality. So how can we guarantee that every single pomelo is delicious and the quality is the best?

Lu Guoyuan wanted every pomelo he sold to have good quality. How could that be possible? Every pomelo's moisture, sweetness, and acidity are different, and he could not open and taste pomelos one by one before selling them. How could he guarantee that the millions of jin of pomelos he sold were all of good quality?

Just when he was at his wit's end, Lu Guoyuan and his brother discovered a secret. This allowed his annual pomelo sales to easily reach more than 10 million yuan.

One day in September 2009, Lu Guoyuan and his older brother Lu Guoshen were busy in the pomelo base. When they got hungry after being busy until past two in the afternoon, they casually picked pomelos and ate them. After eating pomelos from several different bases, they suddenly discovered a secret.

Lu Guoyuan's older brother Lu Guoshen: Pomelos eaten normally are different from those eaten on that day when we were hungry. After discovering this secret, we thought about registering a brand. That was how it was at the time.

Lu Guoyuan: I just felt this pomelo was delicious. If it was delicious, my brother and I ran over there again, picked one and brought it back, tasted it, and when we tasted it there was an obvious difference.

This secret ensured that everything Lu Guoyuan sold was high-quality pomelos. He firmly believed this could bring him enormous wealth.

At 12 noon that day, when the reporter arrived at Lu Guoyuan's stall in Xi'an, the place was already surrounded by many people and vehicles, and market staff had also come to help maintain order. These people had already been lining up here four hours earlier waiting for Lu Guoyuan's pomelos to arrive.

Consumer: They call every day to remind me, so as soon as the day came I drove over very early in the morning to wait for him here.

General Manager Wang Fei of Laobaixing Fruit Supermarket in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province: We came over early to wait for this shipment. His shipment is so late, we are waiting very anxiously.

Consumer: Otherwise, after waiting a bit, it all gets moved away, and people carry it all off.

As soon as the transport truck stopped steadily, the people who had come to buy pomelos could hardly wait and directly moved the pomelos into their own cars, afraid that if they moved too late there would be none left. Some even filled their trunks and then loaded pomelos directly onto the back seats of their own cars.

Lu Guoyuan told the reporter that ever since he discovered that secret about pomelos, scenes like this, where people wait more than four hours just to get the goods, happened every year at his stall. It was that secret that brought Lu Guoyuan a new explosion of wealth. So what exactly was that secret he discovered?

During the interview, Lu Guoyuan took the reporter to the base where he collected pomelos. The reporter found that the trunk of every pomelo tree here had many marks like these cut with a knife.

Lu Guoyuan: This tree, you can calculate the tree age based on this, and then you can know how many years it has been. Look, for example, over here, this mark from the ring-cutting knife, this just started, count it, 1, 2, 3, 4...20...26

In order to provide sufficient nutrients to the pomelo trees during the fruiting period, local growers perform ring cutting on the trunk of the pomelo trees once every year. Through these marks on the trees, one can know the age of the pomelo trees.

It turned out that on that day, Lu Guoyuan and his brother discovered that as pomelo trees gradually entered maturity, the pomelos became more uniform in size and their taste became better and better.

Lu Guoyuan: This is an old-tree red-fleshed honey pomelo. Taste it and see how the flavor is different. Taste it and see what difference there is from white pomelo. How does it feel?

Reporter Wen Penghe: If the taste of white pomelo is the taste of white sugar, then this one is a little...

Lu Guoyuan: The taste of rock sugar. It is very fresh and sweet, and it is also very refreshing.

Senior Agronomist Zhang Jintao of the Agricultural Bureau of Pinghe County, Fujian Province: New trees grow relatively vigorously, mainly growing, so the quality is relatively poor. Old trees bear fruit better, have accumulated more nutrients inside, and have a stage of development, just like us people. When I am older I am more mature, especially refined, haha.

When pomelo trees grow to more than 20 years, they begin to enter maturity, and the pomelos they bear at this time are the most delicious. After discovering this secret, Lu Guoyuan decided to build a brand using honey pomelos from old trees between 20 and 40 years old. Five days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lu Guoyuan sent the year's first batch of pomelos to Xi'an overnight, totaling 40,000 jin.

Lu Guoyuan told the reporter that there is a trick to selecting old-tree honey pomelos.

Lu Guoyuan: Without comparison you don't know. Once you compare, you know. There is a difference. Look at this grain, it's relatively coarse, and this side is relatively fine. Also, if you touch it, look, it's coarse. This one feels smoother. Look, touch it and see. Touch this one and see. You can compare.

Reporter Wen Penghe: This one feels flatter in texture, and this one feels more prominent in texture.

Lu Guoyuan's pomelos are of good quality, and the selling price per jin is 2 yuan higher than other pomelos on the market, but he says he does not make money relying on high profits.

In early 2016, Lu Guoyuan, as the initiator, established "China Good Neighbors" in Xi'an, mainly to promote neighborly relations where people help each other when in difficulty. In order to let more people know each other, Lu Guoyuan regularly held all kinds of activities.

In order to let more people participate, Lu Guoyuan also organized small games like this: two people carry a wooden stick and transport pomelos to the finish line. Whoever finishes transporting five pomelos first wins.

Lu Guoyuan: Get ready, 123 start.

Lu Guoyuan's "China Good Neighbors" regularly organized all kinds of activities every month, and at every activity Lu Guoyuan had various different small games to let everyone enjoy themselves.

Lu Guoyuan: This one is red too, and yours is red too. Let me see who can lift it the highest, hahaha, on top of your head.

Activities like these organized by Lu Guoyuan brought people closer, promoted affection, and also publicized his pomelos.

Lu Guoyuan's neighbor: For those of us doing business, basically, just for sending pomelos during a festival, we buy at least several hundred boxes of pomelos. We have many friends. Sending other things feels... cigarettes and alcohol are a bit vulgar. Hey, this red pomelo is delicious, it's fruit, and it's healthy, so everyone gives them to each other more.

By word of mouth, in 2015, Lu Guoyuan reached cooperation with more than 1,000 fruit sales outlets in Xi'an. He helped nearly 100 households of villagers in Pinghe County, Fujian Province sell a total of more than 5 million jin of pomelos, with sales reaching more than 20 million yuan.