Apple season arrives in Yantai

A good apple harvest greets the arrival of autumn in Yantai, a city in Shandong province famous for being China's largest apple production and processing base.

Fruit growers are busy picking apples in their orchards. A fresh, fruity fragrance wafts throughout the whole city.

Yantai is the hometown of apples, with an apple planting area of 2.72 million mu (181,467 hectares) and an annual output of 4.65 million tons in 2015, accounting for about 16 percent of the country's total.

Yantai is China's largest production and processing base for Red Fuji apples.

The Yantai apple was introduced in 1871 by American missionaries. With a history of over 140 years, the Yantai apple has more than 100 varieties. It has long been famous and welcomed by domestic and foreign markets for its bright color, and sweet and succulent taste.

Yantai has become one of China's largest apple cultivation areas, with its apple planting area increasing by 25 times compared to the 1950s and output growing by 75 times. Qixia, Laiyang, Longkou, Zhaoyuan, Penglai, Haiyang, Muping and Fushan are the major planting areas of Yantai apples. Among them, Qixia is the main producing area, and is known as the "Hometown of Apples in China".

Yantai, located in the east of Jiaodong peninsula, enjoys a high altitude and mild climate. Especially in summer and autumn, the moist air and adequate sunshine provide favorable conditions for apple planting. All these conditions have endowed Yantai apples with a bright color and sweet taste.

Yantai apples and related products have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Russia, with an annual export volume of 600,000 tons, accounting for one-fifth of the country's total. The apples are popular with consumers all around the world.