Litchis and pineapples huge tourist draw

This article was written by Rita Fang and published by The Taiwan Journal on June 13, 2003.

Kaohsiung County's Tashu recently held a tourism festival to promote the town's two best-known commodities: pineapples and litchis. The town has been the focal point of Taiwanese pineapple production since the days of the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945). Pineapples have always been regarded by Taiwanese consumers as valuable - some people even believe they offer immunity from diseases - and are therefore one of the more expensive items on the nation's fruit stands. Taiwanese people call litchis the queen of fruit. Litchis contain glucose, proteins, citric acid, pectin, phosphorus and iron. Their vitamin C content can be as high as 30 milligrams per 100 grams, which is considerable.