Urumqi's Fruit Bazaar is a treasure trove that dazzles the tongue.
Ruby-red jujubes, jade pears, amethyst grapes, sapphire plums, golden apricots and amber apples — these are the glistening regalia orchards wear in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, hailed as "the Kingdom of Fruits and Melons".
Vines sport brooches of grape clusters. Tree branches clutch pomegranates that open like lockets to reveal crimson arils. Fig boughs cradle round pouches packed with delectable gold.
These harvests are hoarded in the 2,500-square-meter bazaar, which is an Aladdin's Cave come true. Fittingly, this folktale is set in Xinjiang. The cavern he stumbles into hosts a garden of trees laden with diamonds, pearls and emeralds, rather than apples and oranges. The difference is that the fruits in the market are real gems in their own right.
More than 100 varieties shine in 12 themed chambers in the fruit arcade, which is part of the Urumqi Grand Bazaar.
These tributes hail from every corner of the "kingdom" — red dates from Hotan; gray jujubes from Ruoqiang; apples from Aksu and Ili; fragrant pears from Korla; grapes from Turpan; apricots from Yingjisha and Kuqa; and Hami melons, named after their region of origin.
Many are crowned with royal titles. The "King of Grapes" has ruled Turpan's vineyards for centuries. In Wensu, the grand "King Walnut" wears a silken shell so thin it yields to a gentle squeeze. The tart sea-buckthorn berry has conquered the bitter desert to claim its throne as the "King of Vitamin C".
These fiefdoms forge qiegao as royal seals. Ornate Uygur cakes — also called sokmak — are bejeweled with fruits and nuts like gems and beads gilded with black honey and an earthy meringue sugar veneer.
