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Lu Qihua checks xieli grown by the Xinhai Specialized Planting Cooperative in Jiuzhaigou. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

Jiaxing-grown plums called xieli have become ripe in Jiuzhaigou county, Southwest China's Sichuan province in recent days, local media reported on July 20.

Mao Haiping, director of the Xinhai Specialized Planting Cooperative in Jiuzhaigou, said that this has made county residents feel reassured and optimistic.

Mao's relations with xieli arose from an assistance program by Jiaxing officials who asked him if he was interested in growing the fruit two years ago.

Mao recalled that he used to hear about the fruit and was afraid that the county's plateau was unsuitable for planting xieli. To relieve Mao's worries, the Jiaxing officials helped him learn how to plant the fruit in Jiaxing.

He decided to try planting the fruit and brought 5,000 xieli plants from Jiaxing. The city also dispatched a team of experts, including Lu Qihua, to offer an eight-day guidance to Mao and his fellow villagers in Jiuzhaigou.

Lu has been recognized as the first person in China to study the planting and protection of xieli. He said that Jiuzhaigou's growers needed to overcome difficulties, including large temperature differences and intense ultraviolet radiation.

According to Mao, this year has been the first time that the xieli plants have borne fruits, with 1,500 kilograms of xieli expected to be produced.

Jiaxing has a history of more than 2,500 years in planting xieli, which has been called the "living fossil" of plums. Due to difficulties in planting, variety degeneration, and wars, xieli was considered endangered in the 1930s. In 1985, there were only 24 xieli plants in Zhejiang province.