Pears

IMG:p438_6.png:Chinese characters Pyrus sinensis. Pears are very much cultivated by the Chinese, but there are few varieties that are enjoyed by foreigners. One of the best is the quince-pear, Ya huan li; it is a large fruit, sometimes weighing half a pound. Next to this comes the Pai li fi IMG:p438_7.png:Chinese characters or white pear, a round fruit, generally small. It is best known to foreigners as the Peking pear. The Ta suan li, big sour pear, is found near Jehol, the Mien suan li or mealy sour pear, near Kuangning in Manchuria, and another sour variety. Mo p'an suan li or mill-stone sour pear, in Liaoyang. These are all soft pears; the hard pears are more appreciated by the Chinese, and there are many varieties of them. The best is the Ya erh li, a large pear-shaped pear, which keeps well and can be got all through the winter in N. China. The Ma t'i huung li or Horse-shoe yellow pear is very large, with coarse flesh; it grows in Manchuria. So does the Hsiang shui li or fragrant water pear, which is dried and packed in boxes. A number of boxes of them used to be sent annually from Liao-yang to the Emperor. The Mi li or honey pear is hard, but very juicy and sweet; it comes from the Chihli province. Some pears of W. Shansi are remarkable for their 'keeping' properties. The Yu li or oil pear can be kept for more than a year. There is a fatty substance covering the fruit, giving it its name, and perhaps explaining its kefepibg properties. The Pen li or furrowed pear and Huang li or yellow pear are from the same district. Shantung produces some very large pears, the 0 li for instance often weighing IMG:p438_8.png:Chinese characters pounds. The Hsiu hua li from Shantung is a large pear shaped like a flattened apple. There is a large number of red pears in N. China; all are apple-shaped and all remarkably good 'keepers.' Many other varieties might be named. From the foreign point of view it is not the pear as the Chinese have it to-day that is interesting, but the Chinese pear as it may be after a course of foreign, scientific treatment in foreign soil. There are at least four varieties of wild pear found in N. China. Meyer: Agricvltvral Explorations, etc.