Dien pomelo – a citrus offering for Lunar New Year

One month before Tet (Lunar New Year) festival, residents in Phuc Dien ward, Bac Tu Liem district in Hanoi are busy with the harvest of pomelos.

From the 10th lunar month, vast pomelo orchards in the area are heavy with the bright yellow of millions of ripe pomelos.

For a long time, the Dien pomelo has been considered a specialty of Hanoi. The citrus fruit is also one of the most sought-after products that Vietnamese people purchase for the Tet celebration.

Dien pomelo trees are typically not tall, just about 2.5m high, and each tree can yield more than 100 fruits. With its fragrant rind and juicy, sweet citrus flesh, Dien pomelo has won the favour of many people.

The busiest time for pomelo growers to harvest their products is from the middle of the 12th lunar month until Tet.

Many people have already visited Phuc Dien one or two months before Tet to buy pomelos to enjoy during the holiday and use as gifts for their relatives and friends.

Many traders also have flocked to purchase the fruit directly from the growers.

According to Dien pomelo cultivators, to get a good harvest, the trees need to be fertilised with organic fertiliser. The ripe fruits should be harvested in the morning when the temperature is lower, as the essential oil cells on the fruit rind are more easily broken in strong sunlight.

It is also not advisable to harvest pomelos after heavy rain or on foggy day, because the humidity makes the fruit more susceptible to rot.

On the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, the price of pomelo at the orchard ranges from 30,000-80,000 VND (1.22 - 3.26 USD) per fruit, depending on the size and quality.

Unlike other types of pomelo, the longer you wait to eat Dien pomelo, the sweeter it will taste. Each fruit weighs from 700 grams to more than 1kg.

To enjoy the true taste of Dien pomelo, don't eat it right after picking it from the tree, but leave it for a few days until the rind gets a bit withered before enjoying it.

Today, although Dien pomelo has been grown in different places, nowhere else can produce the quality or distinctive taste like pomelo grown in Phuc Dien.

In the ripe pomelo season, many people visit the gardens to take photos with thousands of yellow fruits.

Grower Nguyen Gia Dung, owner of the Dung Thu Pomelo Garden, shared that alongside the revenue from selling fruit, during the season, his family also earns additional income from selling tickets for people to visit and take photos in his orchard. The ticket costs 50,000 per person.