Bergamot Pear Around the Riverside of the Peacock River

There is a kind of pear which will be ordered before it is ripe and sold to overseas.

When it is ripe, people will often see that the pear falling to the ground turns into “water”. It will not occur in most pear orchards in the inland, which only can be seen on the riverside of Peacock River. On the beautiful riverside of Peacock River,a gust of wind blows across and then a strong and unique aroma passing will attract bees to dance, make orchardists intoxicated and tourists enjoy themselves. All these are resulted from the local bergamot pear-Korla bergamot pear.

If people want to know about the authentic Korla bergamot pear, they should start from the legend of Peacock River. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess in the ancient Yanqi country. She was in low spirits day and night, but no one knew the reason for this.

The son of a minister, Tahir, who fell in love with her secretly, noticed it and worried deeply in his heart. One day, the princess had a dream that she tasted a kind of bergamot pear she had never tried, and suddenly she became happy again and started to find the long-lost happiness. Thus, she told the king she wanted this pear tree, and the king immediately issued a reward for the person to find the tree. Tahir knew it was a chance, so he traveled a long and dangerous way, fighting fowls and beasts, and finally he found thiskind of pear tree and transplanted it back after 3 months’ searching. The princess turned out to be quite happy when she saw it and took care of the tree together with Tahir.

Therefore, they fell in love with each other. But when they were preparing for their wedding, the chief of the country where this pear tree belonged sent some people and killed Tahir and threw Tahir’s body in the river near the kingdom. When the princess knew the news, she was overwhelmed with sorrow, so finally she decisively jumped into the river to kill herself after watering the pear tree for the last time. In the instant she threw herself into the river, two graceful peacocks flied towards the sky side by side, so people named this river as Peacock River.

With regard to the origin of Nashimoti(Korla Fragrant Pear) itself, there is a more plaintive and graceful legend. According to the legend, there was a clever and beautiful girl named Elliman in Korla. In order to provide a chance for the fellow countrymen on the edge of the desert to eat pear, she was fearless of danger and difficulty, and made an arduousjourney to find excellent pear trees, with the journey from the sea in the east to South Country in the west, which lasted for three full years. And finally she found an excellent variety, so she grafted these pear trees with local wild pear, and only one tree was grafted successfully. Under her tender care, the pear tree bloomed and bore fruits, which gave out aroma, and the pear tasted sweet and tasty, so people gladly called it “Nashimoti”. When the news reached the local landlord, he wanted to impropriate this pear tree, but the requirement was refused by the girl. In great anger, the landlord killed the girl brutally and cut down the pear tree. However, in the spring of the next year, the pear tree magically grew tender shoots, bloomed and bore fruits. People said it was because the spirit of the girl, so they transplanted the pear tree and grew it widely. Since then, it was the inception of Korla bergamot pear.

While a legend is still a legend, and there is no historical records to refer to. The history of Korla bergamot pear actually can be traced back to the Han and Tang dynasties. In all ages, it is accepted and loved by the people universally for its excellent variety and unique sweetness as well as its sad and touching legend. Even though it is of small size, Korla bergamot pear is a “big shot”which won big prizes all over the world. In the French World Exposition in 1920s, Korla bergamot pear was achieved the silver prize among the 1,432 kinds of pear on the Exposition, only second to the French white pear, and was honored as the “queen of world’s pear”. Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Korla bergamot pear has won championships for several times in the national fruits competition; in 1957, it was ranked number one in the national pear production meeting; in 1985, it was classified as national high quality fruit; in 1999, in Kunming World Horticultural Exposition, Korla bergamot pear won gold award. Since getting into the international market in 1987, Korla bergamot pear has been sold well on the market. In September,1986, Queen of the U.K. Elizabeth ate Korla bergamot pear and presented her thanks to the Chinese people for such a good pear. Since then, Korla bergamot pear has been known as high quality fruit to entertain distinguished guests.

As the saying goes,”The good mountains and good water produce the good pear”. The water of Peacock River irrigates and moistens the tress of Korla bergamot pear. The pure high mountain snow water is full of mineral substances and anion. Day and night as well asyear after year, due to not exchanging with the atmosphere, the water retains the nutrient, flows down the mountains to the east along the ditches and moistens the pear orchards on the foot of Mt. Tianshan. Additionally, the abundant sunshine in Xin jiang and great circadian temperature disparity makes it very easy for the pear to retain water and sugar, which is the reason why Korla bergamot pear tastes better than the other kinds of pear. The surface of fully ripe pear is hard to be washed clean with water, because its surface is wrapped up with a thick layer of sugar, which is like protective film isolating the exchange of air and nutrition to reduce the speed of oxidation. The skin of Korla bergamot pear is extremely thin, so when eating it, you can hardly feel any residue; when picking it from the tree, it shatters when falling from the tree to the ground, and it melts in the mouthfeaturing sweetness, crisp and lasting aftertaste. Its sugar content is perfect which shouldn’t be added or reduced for a little bit; and its flesh quality is also just perfect which is not purely crispy or absolutely soft; so when taking a bite, it is both soft and crispy, which can only be known by people who have eaten it. The average sugar content of Korla bergamot pear is over 9.75%.

Even though Korla bergamot pear has thin skin, fine flesh and crispy texture, it can be stored for a long time. If people can’t eat them up in a short time after picking them down, or that they want to store it until the winter, then they only need to find an empty room or earth kiln where they can pile them up with proper ventilation. The pear won’t go bad, nor will the taste be changed any bit. On the contrary, the color of the pear will turn golden and give off strong aroma. There are also a lot of highly processed products of the pear, involving multiple aspects such as medicine and health care. It can also be made into perry, pear syrup and other relevant products, featuring such medical effects as moistening lung, cooling heart, dissolving phlegm and easing sore-toxin and drunkenness.

The people who often eat Korla bergamot pear will notice that the shape of each pear is different. As a matter of fact, Korla bergamot pear can be divided into male and female from its profile. Those with extruding navel are male while those with depressed navel are female. Generally speaking, the female pear tastes better than the male which has rougher flesh and bigger stone. In Korla and Urumqi, people prefer female pear to the premium pear, so a box of full female pear is even more expensive than that of premium pear. Especially in winter, it is a very”decent”thing to eat Korla bergamot pear. Getting over the long winter, it is the short and happy spring. At the beginning of April of each year, the Korla Oases awakes from the cold winter with the pear blossom overspreading which looks like snow falling, attracting bees and dense tourists.

1985, it was classified as national high quality fruit; in 1999, in Kunming World Horticultural Exposition, Korla bergamot pear won gold award. Since getting into the international market in 1987, Korla bergamot pear has been sold well on the market. In September,1986, Queen of the U.K. Elizabeth ate Korla bergamot pear and presented her thanks to the Chinese people for such a good pear. Since then, Korla bergamot pear has been known as high quality fruit to entertain distinguished guests.