July is turning into August and Conghua district in Guangzhou, the capital city of South China's Guangdong province, is embracing harvest of longan fruit, one of the four major fruits in South China. 

To promote the harvest of longan, a TV special was made and distributed on multiple news apps such as People's Daily and Nanfang plus. 

With a planting area of almost 40,000 mu (2,667 hectares), 90 percent of the varieties of longan grown by Conghua are Shixia and Chuliang. Shixia is the earliest maturing variety, and also the most popular among locals. Because of the big temperature difference in Conghua, Shixia has high sugar level and abundant nutrients. 

The lack of variety of longan fruits brings pressure on fruit preservation and sales, due to the concentrated picking time. Conghua is already working on cultivating more longan varieties. To date, four new ones have been planted and 14 more are in trial phase. 

The first batch of Shixia longan this year has already hit Canadian markets and was well received. The second batch is on the way.

Longan fruit is rich in vitamins and various nutrients. It can be dried and used in tea and other Chinese dishes as a healthy diet, according to traditional Chinese Medicine.