Citrus festival celebrates Red Beauty harvest in Xiangshan

The 7th Xiangshan Citrus Festival is held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on Nov 16. [Photo/Tide News]

The 7th Xiangshan Citrus Festival was held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on Nov 16, marking the beginning of this year's harvest season for Red Beauty, a variety of citrus.

Its unique geographical and climatic advantages make Xiangshan county in Ningbo an ideal place for citrus cultivation. Its Red Beauty citrus is popular for its rich aroma, tender flesh, and juicy and sweet taste. It is hailed as the "Hermes of Citrus".

In 2021, the "Xiangshan Red Beauty" was registered as a national Geographical Indication (GI) trademark. With its annual production valued at 800 million yuan ($1.1 million) and accounting for 67 percent of Xiangshan's total citrus production, the fruit was recently listed among China's best GI agro-product practices to help promote rural vitalization.

This year, the county has cultivated 24 square kilometers of Red Beauty, which is expected to yield 27,000 metric tons of fruit.

Xiangshan has also launched the "Xiangshan Red Beauty" carbon labeling project. Low-carbon cultivation techniques have been applied, and carbon footprint labels have been added on the packages.

According to a county official, Xiangshan is transforming the Xiangshan Citrus Festival into a platform to promote Xiangshan's citrus fruits and develop its rural industries.