How much would you pay for a lychee?

[brain]

Monday, Jul 1, 2002, 1:18 pm EST

Chinese Lychee Auctioned for $67,000
Associated Press

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BEIJING (AP) — How much would you pay for a piece of fresh fruit? If it`s from a tree four centuries old that once fed emperors, try $67,000.

A single rare lychee weighing about half an ounce fetched a record price of about $67,000 at an auction Sunday in Zengcheng, a city in southern China`s Guangdong province, China`s official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

Here`s why: The lychee, a small fruit with bumpy skin and juicy white flesh, was produced by a rare tree named Xiyuangualu. More than 400 years old, it yields only a few dozen lychees per year, Xinhua said, citing unidentified local sources.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), under the emperors Qianlong and Jiaqing, Xiyuangualu lychees served as tributes to the imperial court and were dubbed ``the king of fruit.`

The bank-breaking lychee was bought by a Guangdong firm, Xintang International Jeans Town.

Money from the this year`s auction will be used for education — and for upkeep for the valuable trees, Xinhua said.

Zengcheng`s high rainfall makes it an ideal place for growing such subtropical fruits as lychees and longans. The district has devoted nearly 100,000 acres to lychee cultivation this year, Xinhua said.

[jase71]

Hmmm....

Keep the seed(s) and you've got yourself a heck of an investment there.

[hapoo]

i wouldn't pay more than a buck since it has no significance to me. Only interest i'd have is to see what it tastes like since i've never heard of a lychee.

[Freelance Superhero]

so what the hell is Xintang International Jeans Town fixin to do with one freakin lychee?

or were they just feeling particularly philanthropic?

[PoloM1]

lychees taste really good..... but not that good

[Ladogaboy]

:eek:

[brain]

Originally posted by hapoo
i wouldn't pay more than a buck since it has no significance to me. Only interest i'd have is to see what it tastes like since i've never heard of a lychee.

You should try it. Go to Ranch 99 and get some.... Lychees, that is.

[CornMonkey]

Originally posted by brain


You should try it. Go to Ranch 99 and get some.... Lychees, that is.

maybe we should tell Xintang International Jeans Town about Ranch 99 stores too....

[Hiro]

You gotta be outta your ****in mind to buy a PIECE OF FRUIT for that much cash.

[Cheesypuff]

and damn...if the fruit came from the 1600's, there has to be some kind of mutant cells in that tree! GROSS anywho, lychee is really good. Have you guys ever tried custard apple from Australia? It's good stuff!!

[cruelpupet]

funny...i was just thinkning....




i would pay 70k for one of those ;)

[Sir_Froggy]

Originally posted by hapoo
i wouldn't pay more than a buck since it has no significance to me. Only interest i'd have is to see what it tastes like since i've never heard of a lychee.

lychees are really good. heh there is another kind sorta like lychee but not bumpy it's brown on the outside. not sure wut it is in english but in chinese it's 'long-yen' sorta how you say it..they're really good frozen...oh wait ok i just read the end of the article and it said 'longans' ya i guess that's wut i'm talking about those are good too :)


and that much money for one piece of fruit? that's just idiocy....they could just pretend they bought one from that tree but actually went somewhere else to buy them..... :rolleyes: those asians

jk :P

[Tommy Boomfiger]

Originally posted by Cheesypuff
and damn...if the fruit came from the 1600's, there has to be some kind of mutant cells in that tree! GROSS anywho, lychee is really good. Have you guys ever tried custard apple from Australia? It's good stuff!! the fruit isnt 400 years old, the tree is. i had to read the post a few times to get that. there is no way a fruit like that would last that long unless it was cryogenically frozen or something

[Showtime]

Has anyone here tried Lychee ice cream? ummmmmmm! yummmy!
Flew up to San Francisco with some friends a couple of weeks ago and my friend wanted ice cream. I picked mango and she picked lychee and i think we finished her quart and had like 1/4 of the mango. good stuff.
-jel:halo:

[NuTs62]

Originally posted by the jello is jigglin
Has anyone here tried Lychee ice cream? ummmmmmm! yummmy!
Flew up to San Francisco with some friends a couple of weeks ago and my friend wanted ice cream. I picked mango and she picked lychee and i think we finished her quart and had like 1/4 of the mango. good stuff.
-jel:halo:

heh.. yup, they have it at various restaurants here.. but they also have it down in So Cal too :P

The reason why it fetched such a price is cuz it was off the same tree that supposedly fed emperoers.. Chinese are really into luck, and fortune, and stuff like that.. and well, i guess for some people, its worth just that much.. but i for one wouldnt spend that much.. unless of course i was filthy rich

[Speedfreak]

Ahh... so that is what it is. I remember going to Las Vegas to the World of Coke. They let you sample many different Coke products from around the world. They had one there called "Lychee" and it was from China. It was pretty damn good. :)

[whitak24]

hmmmm.....for $67k, i could buy a viper, or a couple BMWs.

i'd take the cars!

[brain]

Originally posted by Speedfreak
Ahh... so that is what it is. I remember going to Las Vegas to the World of Coke. They let you sample many different Coke products from around the world. They had one there called "Lychee" and it was from China. It was pretty damn good. :)



Mmmmmm.... Lychee soda. I remember having fresh lychee boba when I was in Vancouver. It was SOOOOO good.

[ChrisMG187]

so what exactly does it taste like?

[NuTs62]

Originally posted by ChrisMG187
so what exactly does it taste like?

hard to explain how things taste.. heh.. why not go out and buy one.. preferably not for 67k. go into some asian food market, they should have these lil lychee jelly cups. taste decent.. it was the craze about 2 years ago.

[molecularfire]

hard to explain how things taste.. heh.. why not go out and buy one.. preferably not for 67k. go into some asian food market, they should have these lil lychee jelly cups. taste decent.. it was the craze about 2 years ago.

Wasn't there a problem with them? I remember hearing somewhere that the company got involved in some scandal where they were putting something unsafe into them. I don't know if they sell them anymore. :(