By "Chinese fruit" we mean fruits you're bound to see on your trip to China that you've probably never seen at home. Most of these fruits are common throughout Southeast Asia. Some of them look a lot like certain Western fruits, but they are not the same. Don't believe me? Remember the Freakonomics logo?

Think of that whenever you look at a Chinese grape.

Fruit Menu

• Dragon Fruit
• Durian
• Pomelo
• Chinese Grapes
• Chinese Dates - Winter Jujube
• Chinese Dates - Red Date / Jujube
• Mangosteen
• Chinese Bayberry
• Lychee
• Longan

Dragon Fruit (Pitaya, Strawberry Pear)

火龙果

Pinyin: huǒlóngguǒ

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Dragon fruit are cactuses but the fruit itself bears no thorns. They're sweet, slightly sour, very refreshing, and you never get over the initial surprise of the cookies n' cream inside. It gets me every time.

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Eating dragon fruit won't kill you or make you breathe fire or have any cool effect at all, except for making you healthier. It's high in dietary fiber and Vitamin C and is especially good for people with type 2 diabetes. And it definitely has the scariest name of all Chinese fruit.

Durian

榴莲

Pinyin: liúlián

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The "King of Fruits," as it is known in much of Southeast Asia, is a subject of much disagreement. Probably the only thing that people agree on is that the smell and the taste are strong and hard to describe. The rest of the words used in the same sentence as the King are usually on opposite sides of non-linear spectrums: rotten onions, rich custard, sewage, cream cheese, skunk spray, cream of almonds, vomit, caramel, etc.

You'll learn to recognize the smell quickly as Durian is a pretty common Chinese fruit. I find it pretty disgusting and can never decide which smell I hate more: Durian's, stinky tofu's or that of cooked rice gone bad. Actually, never mind, definitely rotten rice's. Most Chinese people I've talked to tend to agree that Durian smells horrible, but enjoy the taste. Many shops sell Durian-flavored drinks, which they probably make by taking pineapple juice and storing it in the garbage can over night.

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Not exactly appetizing...they look more like kidneys than fruit.

The worst thing about Durian is the little candies that smell like Durian smells and taste like Durian...smells. It's like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Harry Potter, where you wonder why they have to make the earwax and snot flavored ones at all. Now we know; it's probably a nod to the King of Fruits' incarnation in candy form.

Durian is obnoxiously good for you. Every part of the fruit/tree can be used for some health benefit. However, it's probably the most expensive Chinese fruit.

Pomelo (a.k.a. shaddock, Chinese grapefruit)

柚子

Pinyin: yòuzi

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You may have seen these before, maybe in a Chinese supermarket or even a Shop Rite. Chinese people call them grapefruits and call grapefruits "Western grapefruits." If this is a form of disdain for the Western variety, it's well-deserved as pomelos are better in everywhich way. ^*

Western pomelos, though they look just like the Chinese fruit, are bitter like grapefruits on the inside. The (ripe) ones you see in China however, are barely bitter at all; they're sweet, less acidic than other citrus fruits, and generally wonderful...provided you know how to pick them.

How to pick them:

• Make sure it's heavy - the first time, you'll have do with comparing the different pomelos in front of you. The heavier a pomelo is, the juicier, the sweeter it is.
• There should be a soft spot in the center at the bottom.
• The rest of the skin should be pretty firm. You want a mushy pomelo like you want a mushy kiss from your Aunt Edna.
• Light green or yellow skin are both OK. These aren't bananas; they can be ripe and green at the same time.

Here's a more in-depth tutorial with pictures: How to choose a Pomelo?

Pomelos can be (relatively) expensive as Chinese fruit come, around $2 a piece, but a good pomelo's tastier than most things. And remember, don't eat the skins, just eat the pulp, just like with grapefruits.

Pomelos have so many health benefits that you should stop reading and just go buy one. If you already went out and bought the last two Chinese fruit we mentioned, we'll cut you some slack and let you eat them first.

Chinese Grapes

葡萄

Pinyin: pútào

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When you start learning Chinese and get to the fruit section, you see pútào listed under "grapes."

Then you come to China, buy some pútào, shove 'em in your mouth and spit them right out.

Pútào skin is thicker than that of grapes, not nearly as edible, but also not as well-attached to the inside. If you put the hole at the bottom of the grape to your mouth, you can suck the inside right into your mouth. Or if you're not in the right company for loud sucking sounds, peel the skin off with your fingers and get everything and everyone around you sticky. Spit the seeds out at the people who snicker.

Chinese grapes are probably good for you. What Chinese fruit isn't? What fruit isn't?

Chinese Dates (Winter Jujube)

冬枣

Pinyin: dōngzǎo

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Winter jujubes range in size in shape, but are generally fairly small; you'll need at least a few of them to achieve any measure of satisfaction. They're crispy and have a texture similar to styrofoam. I would say they taste better but I can't get myself to put this piece of styrofoam in my mouth. Winter jujubes are usually mildly sweet. When out with friends, I can tear through around twenty before I start feeling like I should share them.

They're are also really good for you--your blood, lungs, kidney(s), stomach, spleen. I know no one knows what a "spleen" is and let's keep it that way by eating lots of winter jujubes.

Chinese Dates (Red Date / Jujube)

红枣

Pinyin: hóngzǎo

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The "red date" is mostly sold in dried form in China. They're much sweeter than winter jujubes and have a similar texture. Dried jujubes are light and airy.

You guessed it, jujubes are yet another healthy food. In fact, they're even better for you than winter jujubes: they cleanse your blood, normalize your blood pressure and do everything but help you grow new organs. They're also rich in Vitamin C, but these days you can lick Vitamin C off the walls.

Mangosteen

山竹

Pinyin: shānzhú

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Some say this is the best-tasting fruit in the world but I wouldn't even call it the best Chinese fruit. It's delicious alright, but I feel like it doesn't have that strong personality that differentiates it from its fruity brethren. It's sweet, mushy and very very juicy. Definitely have some, but don't do so with ridiculous expectations.

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Mangosteens (like all Chinese fruit it seems) have amazing health benefits such as preventing cancer and slowing down aging. However, in order to reap them, you need to eat the rind. The tasty white part inside is only "very good" for you, nothing exceptional.

I take back my earlier comments, that's personality right there.

Chinese Bayberry

杨梅

Pinyin: yángméi

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Also called the yumberry and the red bayberry and other names we can't list here because they're NC-17. The berries are around the same size as cherries and there's a pit in the middle. The texture is a bit like carpet. They're tangy and tart and...are there other synonyms for sour?

Chinese bayberries are sweeter when they ripen to a dark beet red, but if you like sour fruits you might enjoy them when they're lighter-colored too. I used to make iced tea with Chinese bayberries by boiling them in sugar water; it was very refreshing.

Unfortunately, Chinese bayberries are about as healthy as Dunkin' Donuts.

Kidding! You may be getting bored of hearing it, but this Chinese fruit is also ridiculously good for you. Chinese bayberries are rich in "oligomeric proanthocyanidins," which are like vitamins on crack. They boost everything you can imagine, prevent diseases that start with the letters A through L, and if you eat enough of them, you can even learn to pronounce "oligomeric proanthocyanidins" without biting your tongue off.

Lychee

荔枝

Pinyin: lìzhī

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Lychees are pretty popular in the West these days, though usually in the form of little cubes at the bottom of tea-drinks. They're basically thin membranes wrapped around big drops of juice, enclosed in thin hard skin...kind of like eggs now that I think about it. Peeling the outer skin off without taking a mini-shower can be quite a challenge, but it's worth it as they're absolutely delicious.

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They're good for you. Surprised?

Longan

龙眼

Pinyin: lóngyǎn

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Longans are cousins of the lychee, and taste very similar. They're smaller and the outer skin is not as rough and interesting. Basically you eat them when you your lychee supply runs out.

In Case We Missed Some

Apologies to anyone offended on account of any Chinese fruit we left out. We skipped a couple we thought weren't as ubiquitous in China, and the rest because your drool is endangering your computer enough as it is.

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