This past Saturday morning I had the pleasure of attending Beijing’s Haidian District’s 19th annual Sijiqing Cherry Picking Festival. The event featured eleven different types of cherries native to the area in the city’s largest cherry orchard, a quiet place on the outskirts of Beijing. The morning kicked off with a short ceremony before opening up the orchard for all to branch out and pick their favorite cherries.
I recommend the event for anyone who hasn’t experienced it, especially anyone with children. The event coincides with International Children’s Day and provides a particular thrill for the kids with other events for them to partake in. Just be prepared for the Chinese equivalent of the paparazzi to scramble to get a photo of you assisting your exceptionally cute child in snagging a cherry.
The festival’s preceding ceremony included a speech by several district officials, followed by a gift exchange by a group of local children to symbolize harmony among children. Meanwhile, you could visit the display table to sample the variety of cherries which were being offered. I dropped by to investigate the assortment. While to the untrained eye some cherries appeared identical, the tastes were indeed distinctive. The cherries carry names such as the Red Lantern and the Early Red Jade and varied from a dark violet red, to scarlet, to pink, to yellow. And if you are not a connoisseur of cherries in the slightest, you can at least marvel in the aesthetically pleasing quality of cherries which all can agree upon. My personal trip to the test tasting table included an interview with the local news team which made my day complete even before the picking was
The cherries were abundant and the orchard was plenty big to spread out and not get crowded—such circumstances are hard to come by in Beijing. With selections for those who prefer sweet cherries or even those (like me) who prefer sour, the search for the tree with the perfect tasting cherries was on. While there were plenty of low hanging fruit for all the little tykes, some of the best clusters involved a little climbing or the use of a latter which made the event even more entertaining and introduced a teamwork aspect into the process.
It appeared that all had success filling their baskets with plenty of cherries but if you weren’t able to fill up your basket enough during the picking then there were also boxes of cherries for purchase following the festival. While the ceremony is held at the beginning of June, the weather at the orchard was surprisingly pleasant. The trees provided shade and the rhythmic breeze made it pleasurable. However, I would recommend bringing along a bottle of water to keep hydrated.
This short and sweet festival provides a splendid time for those looking to get involved in a bit of the cultural activity that Beijing offers. If you are in town this time of year, you should check it out. The atmosphere is pleasant, the people are cheerful, and the cherries are ripe.
