Last fruit hanging in 2021... "the fruit of success"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 2021… “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴”

Beijing and the North of China have already witnessed snow storms and most trees have been stripped from their leaves, ready for a winter sleep. But there is still one fruit proudly hanging on bare tree branches these days, orange and plump splashing pulp and juice when finally dropping off around the end of this month or even into December (But not many fruits will drop as people will pick them during this time).

柿 (Shì) or Persimmon (Diospyros kaki), also called kaki (but this name applies to other similar diospyros species around the world as well) is an ancient fruit in China and 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝟮𝟮𝟭𝗕𝗖-𝗔𝗗𝟮𝟮𝟬), 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲-𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗴 (𝟲𝟭𝟴-𝟵𝟬𝟳). Persimmon was introduced to Japan in the 7th century where it has become a national fruit and later on to other countries in Asia. In the late 1800's the fruit was introduced in the USA and other parts of the world.

The fruit is recommended in 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 for high blood pressure and loaded with vitamin C, beta-carotene (for Vitamin A) and fibers.

Due to its perishability, the fruits are usually dried, frozen or processed to jams or cakes immediately after harvest to be consumed during wintertime. Persimmon should not be eaten unripe due to the high amount of tannins which only lowers to acceptable levels at its full ripeness.

Its name 柿 (Shì) sounds similar to “business affairs” and 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿. A persimmon tree is often planted in temple gardens as it is said to have 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗲𝘀: 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆; 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱𝘀; 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀.

𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 '𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴' (百事吉利).

These pictures are taken from a beautiful persimmon tree in the middle of the Beijing Zoo during a visit last week.

#beijing #harvest #persimmon #crosscultural