Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 10 – In the area we are in (Guangdong province), the lychee/litchi/lizhi 荔枝, season is highly aniticipated by the locals. The pinkish-red skin peels off easily to expose the slightly sweet, flowery smelling, very juicy flesh, in fact I’ve been squirted numerous times when peeling one! If you have only ever had the canned or frozen ones from Western Chinese restaurants, it will be hard for you to understand why people like them so much! There are many places where you can pick your own fruit. We did this a couple years ago but not this year, although though I was told we do have a place very close by. You can find the trees in many parks also, but I’ve been told the fruit in the parks isn’t free for anyone to pick! You can also find many vendors selling freshly picked fruit along the streets. They don’t stay fresh long after picking, so when you buy them, they are usually still attached to the branches to help them stay fresh longer. This year, a Chinese friend told us that when the cicadas sing, it’s time for the lychee harvest to begin :-)