Pineapples are growing in greenhouses on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, far from their traditional growing regions. Abundant sunshine and large day-to-night temperature swings favor their growth, while researchers monitor fruit size and tailor care to each growth stage. Inside local greenhouses, papayas, bananas and dragon fruit thrive, while more than 24,000 sugarcane plants grow in fields outside. So far, more than 50 tropical and subtropical fruit varieties have been introduced for trial cultivation.