Skip to content
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Instagram YouTube Facebook
Menu

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker.

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker. Doing all three in China
Instagram YouTube Facebook
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Hit enter to search or esc to close
Home  >  China  >  Mangoes, Unlike Money, DO Grow on Trees!
Posted inChina

Mangoes, Unlike Money, DO Grow on Trees!

Posted By Becky Ances Posted on July 9, 2018
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

I’m still not totally used to living in a tropical climate. I’m used to seeing flowers in winter and melting in the summer I’m still surprised every year when I see tropical fruit growing on the street.

Xiamen has mango trees everywhere, and this time of year the fruit is ripe and ready to drop. I’m sure mango trees cultivated for the market are different, but here “in the wild” mango trees are tall and leafy which make for nice shade trees. Unfortunately, now that the fruit is ripening, standing under one could be a bit dangerous. A mango isn’t exactly light as it falls down onto your head.

So thank god for the aiyi brigade. Aiyi’s are middle aged aunties and they like nothing more than free stuff. So ever since the mangoes started growing, they have been roving around the streets in gangs picking at many as they can.

The come armed with plastic bags and buckets to collect the fruit and long bamboo poles with a handmade net at the end to pick it. Like I said, the mango trees are tall and you need something long to pick it.

The aiyi’s were picking the fruit before it was fully ripe, but now that it is literally falling to the ground, other people are getting into it. I was standing on a street waiting for a friend when I noticed a kid kinda milling around the street. Suddenly a gust of wind came, shook the tree, and dozens of mangoes fell to the ground. The kid scurried to pick them up and then looked up in the sky and started talking to someone.

That’s when I realized it wasn’t a gust of wind that shook the tree, but the kids dad. This guy had climbed into the tree (shirtless for some reason) and was shaking various branches for the ripe fruit to drop. Well, that’s one way to do it I guess.

 

Dad in the tree shaking the branches to rain down mangoes. His kid was waiting below to grab them all.

But the mango gods are kind and they reign down plenty for all. I was once standing at a red light when one fell down next to us. A lady picked it up, dusted it off, peeled it and started eating it all before the light turned green. And it’s not uncommon to see people walking around with a few mangoes they picked up off the street.

But if people don’t eat the mangos then they inevitable get run over or stepped on, and now the pavement is filled with these gross dark yellow smears or slimy patches of rotten fruit. And despite all the free mangos, shops are still selling plenty. I guess there is an unquenchable thirst the people of Xiamen have for mangoes.

Before I came to Xiamen I’m not sure I ever actually ate a mango before. Sure, I had plenty of mango flavored things, dried mango and and I’m sure the Tropicana tropical fruit can had mango pieces, but I’ve never lived in a place where it is so common and eaten so often. Living in a tropical climate oftentimes sucks, but getting free mangos from the trees is one advantage I guess!

I tried to take a sneaky picture of this woman casually holding a few mangoes she found on the street.
Tags: hot weather mangos tropical life xiamen
Previous Article Chinese Wedding (with video!)
Next Article Writer’s Summer Holiday in Paris

Related Posts

What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way.

As I rode the slick new escalators up the side of the mountain in the Xiamen botanical Gardens, I hated myself a little. Why was I here, supporting the destruction and abuse of this gorgeous natural mountain? I mean, is there anything lazier than taking an escalator up a mountain?

Read More about What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way.
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

The Instagrammification of a Beach

You’d think in a country where Instagram was blocked there would be no Instagrammification of places. But then you’d be wrong…very wrong.

Read More about The Instagrammification of a Beach
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

4 Comments

  1. jcmatt
    July 21, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    Free mangoes sound good…unless they do fall on you. I’d probably get angry if someone swiped one that landed on me–if it hits you, it should be yours.

    Reply
    • Becky
      July 31, 2018 at 12:28 am

      Haha, the rule of the street should be “whatever hits you, you get to eat.”

      Reply
  2. Nicki Chen
    July 21, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    These look like the kind of mangoes they grow in the Philippines. Mangoes are usually available in American supermarkets now, but they’re often imported from Mexico or India, and they’re not as good. I have pleasant memories of the exquisite mango pie they sold in a Spanish bakery in Manila.

    Reply
    • Becky
      July 31, 2018 at 12:28 am

      I googled mango trees and the pictures I saw were more squat style trees. But actually I didn’t check where they were from. Seems to reason that different places would have different styles. And I love mango on yogurt and icee things, so I’d be willing to try a mango pie. 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way.
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach
  • The Stuff of Nightmares
  • The (Surprising) Best Chinese Food for a Picnic

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Posts

  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way. Becky Ances January 31, 2023
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s Becky Ances December 29, 2022
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach Becky Ances November 21, 2022
  • Popular
  • Recent
  • The Swiss Family Robinson are a Bunch of Jerks December 11, 2009
  • Making it Official: My Chinese Boyfriend December 7, 2012
  • Good Chinese Wife Review and a Chance to Win a Free Book!! July 27, 2014
  • 10 Signs You've Lived in China a Long Time March 29, 2014
  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way. January 31, 2023
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s December 29, 2022
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach November 21, 2022
  • The Stuff of Nightmares September 12, 2022

Subscribe Now to Our Newsletter, It’s Free!

Get the best content delivered straight into your inbox!

Facebook Twitter Google+

About

I’m an American who has been living in China for more than a decade! This is my blog where I muse about all things China. Please also check out my YouTube channel “Badminton Becky” and my other badminton blog at www.badmintonbecky.com

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way. January 31, 2023
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s December 29, 2022
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach November 21, 2022
© Copyright 2017. Theme by BloomPixel.