(June and July) Pick plums in the mountains | Brew a bottle of green plum wine

"Hello everyone, I'm Xiao Li, from Eryuan, Dali. I love the mountains and rivers of my hometown. Sometimes I go on adventures in rivers and lakes by kayak or paddleboard, sometimes I ride an off-road vehicle up the mountain, and I also like to explore the outside world. I used to be a surfing coach for a while. Every Tuesday, I will take guests to Fengyu to visit the traditional market. During the plum blossom season, I will go hiking. During the plum blossom season, I will brew green plum wine. I hope to have the opportunity to share these daily lives with you."

After leading the " Hiking in the Plum Blossom Forest under the Snowy Mountains " activity last year, I thought it would be meaningful to brew a bottle of green plum wine under the plum trees.

Last plum blossom viewing activity record

Dali Songhe Village | Qiqi

At the end of 1922, Brother Mao took the lead in mobilizing nearby plum farmers to build a road, which gave us the opportunity to go deeper into the mountains, see their lives, and discover the real good things. With the road in the deep mountains, plum farmers no longer have to work hard using manpower and horses to transport plums, honey, and papayas and then find ways to sell them in the market.

 

 The first time I went to Brother Mao's plum garden, what attracted me was not the plum blossoms and plums, but the local honey grown under his plum trees. Once when I went to Fengyu to attend the market, I chatted with a vendor selling pickled plums and learned that he was also from Songhe Village. As soon as I said that I knew Brother Mao and that we were from the same village, he immediately praised his local honey. This left a deep impression on me. More than 40 years ago, Brother Mao's father was in his prime and took red soil from the mountain to make bricks, and used red soil bricks to build beehives and huts. It was also the first time for me to see how local honey was cut and tasted fresh honey. The plants on the mountain have different flowering periods, and the types of nectar collected by the bees are also different, also called multi-flower honey, so the fresh honey tasted in each season is also different.

The plums in Eryuan come later because of the climate and the altitude. The place where we picked plums, "Songhe Village", is located in Eryuan County. Eryuan is not only the source of Erhai Lake, but also the main source of Dali plums. The local enterprise "Erbao Industry" specializing in plum processing has a plum planting base of 10,000 mu here. The beverage "Qingmei Shuang" produced by it is drunk by every Eryuan person since childhood. It is also known as the "Hometown of Ancient Plums in China" and so on...

Go to the origin of plums and pick them yourself under the plum trees, wash them, remove the stems, and tattoo them. Use the water from an ancient well at the foot of Yunnong Peak in Cangshan Mountain to brew a bottle of green plum wine that belongs to you. Three months later, you can taste the memories of you and Eryuan, Dali.

Itinerary

10:00 Depart from Dali

Arrive at the plum garden at 12:00 and start picking green plums, removing the stems, washing and drying them

 

While waiting for the honey to dry, we can watch the honey harvesting and taste fresh honey and beeswax. Then we can go trekking in the stream beside the plum forest.  

 

After returning home, the plums are dried and you can use toothpicks to poke the patterns you like on them. Then put them in a glass bottle, add yellow rock sugar and white wine, and put a label on it. A bottle of green plum wine is ready. Wait quietly for three months before you can drink it.

Return around 15:30

On the way back, you can go to a local Hui Muslim restaurant in Dengchuan for dinner together. (20-40 per person)

Production record of 2024.06.24:

I will provide:

1000ml glass bottle

Green plum

Yellow rock sugar

Locally brewed barley wine/corn wine (you can bring your own wine)

Considering that many friends come by plane and it is not convenient to take the goods away, and it is not easy to find a company willing to deliver glass bottle packaging locally, I can help to send the package, and the cooperating courier is willing to help (the courier fee is borne by the courier)

Plum trading market at the entrance of the village

Overlooking the entire Fengyu Town along the way

pick

Wash it clean

Mixed with local barleywine

Write your name and date

Collecting local honey

and enjoy it