It will be overcast with showers or thunderstorms from this afternoon to tonight, and the city is forecast to receive moderate rainfall with heavy rainfall in some areas. Tomorrow will be overcast with showers or thunderstorms in the daytime while the rain will stop at night. Following the rainfall, the city will be hit by cold fronts and see a drop in temperature. The highs of today and tomorrow will be 30 and 27 degrees Celsius, respectively.
As it is getting warmer, local loquats will come into the market in mid-May.
The Baisha loquat (or White Sand loquat) from Dongshan Town东山镇 will be the first kind to appear on the market. As one of the four traditional loquat growing regions, Dongshan Town has an area of nearly 30,000 mu (2,000 hectares) for loquat cultivation and some 12,000 households grow the fruit in the town. The Baisha loquat not only is well received among people by word of mouth, but also has received national awards over the recent years. The yellow Baisha loquat is oval-shaped and juicy with thin skin, crystal-clear flesh, and small nut, and is thus acclaimed as the King of Summer Fruit.
The Qingzhong loquat (or Green loquat) grown in Jinting Town金庭镇 will come into the market one week after the Baisha loquat. Only produced in Jinting Town, Wuzhong District of Suzhou, the Qingzhong loquat, grown from the late Tang Dynasty (618-907), is among the top 10 quality loquats in the country. The pedicel of the loquat is still green when ripening, which makes itself different from other varieties. Qingzhong loquats have crystal-clear and tender flesh and are very sweet, with sugar content surpassing 13% or even 15%, which is the signature of this variety.
