Man spends 30 years protecting China's plum heritage

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A former college teacher has spent more than 30 years attempting to protect and promote an ancient subspecies of Prunus salicina, also known as the Chinese plum.

The fruit dates back 2,500 years.

Lu Qihua, believed to be the first Chinese to research the planting of the fruit trees, has used an ancient method recorded in the agricultural texts of Qimin Yaoshu, written during the Northern Wei Dynasty from 386 to 534.

Lu cultivates the rare trees at his planting base in Jiaxing City, in eastern Zhejiang Province.

Zuili /Tencent Photo

He also uses an ecologically-friendly way to maintain the base’s biodiversity and shuns the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.

Tencent Photo

To collect more specimens, Lu has traveled many provinces in eastern China, such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.

He even traveled as far as Guizhou Province, 1,500 kilometers away from his base.

The 53-year-old has collected 121 Zuili varieties during his trips and now tends to more than 2,000 trees.

Tencent Photo

Zuili is a rare Chinese fruit with a long history of cultivation, Lu told the Jiaxing Daily newspaper.

“Zuili can be called the plant version of the giant panda,” he said.

Tencent Photo

Now, thanks to his efforts, part of his dream has come true – promoting the subspecies to regions across China.

Zuili trees can now be found on mountains, grasslands and hills.

Plums play a significant role in Chinese culture and Jiaxing, the place most famous for producing the fruit, used to be called Zuili in ancient times.

1092km