HAIKOU, May 8. /TASS/. This year Hainan's administrative center — the city of Haikou — plans to supply to the markets about 90,000 tonnes of "volcanic" lychee fruit, a special variety of lychee growing only on the island, according to the Hainan Daily newspaper.
The region’s administration emphasized that this year a rich harvest of this crop is expected to be grown in the area of small extinct volcanoes in the island's north. In order to popularize hard-coated fruit covered with small spikes, the mayor of Haikou Ding Hui recently launched an online promotion in which online consumers bought more than 1,500 tonnes of “volcanic” lychees per day.
“Hainan is one of the places where lychee has been cultivated for centuries. This is one of the important sectors of agriculture contributing to the well-being of local farmers and the implementation of the national program to alleviate poverty,” the mayor emphasized.
Hainan's variety of lychee grows on volcanic soil in the highlands of Yangshan south of Haikou and is considered the rarest in the world. The fruits ripen on trees, many of which are about 300 years old. The area is inhabited by bees that collect honey from lychee flowers. It is believed that this product with a sour taste helps to detox, improves digestion, increases appetite and immunity, and also helps people suffering from insomnia.
There are more than 100 extinct volcanoes on Hainan, 86 of which are quite big. These geological formations are located in the northern part of the island — in the Haikou region, near the cities of Wenchang, Danzhou and Qionghai as well as in the districts of Dingan, Chengmai and Lingao.