Pho Hien’s longan

Longan is the Heaven’s gift giving to Pho Hien. Thanks to it, Hung Yen has become well-known nationwide. It’s surprising that among some kinds of longan grown in the Red River Delta, only the one grown in Pho Hien is considered as the King of longans. Some following words are scholar Le Quy Don’s describing Pho Hien longan as: “When each longan pulp is put into the mouth, from stump and tongue, it pervades a fragrant flavor like the holy water’s flavor given by the God…” So far, there hasn’t been any proper answer to the question: “Which are the factors bringing Pho Hien longan special flavor that is much different from the one of longan grown in other areas?” The pulp of longan here is very transparent with a strange sweet-smelling fragrance and the pip is tiny.

Pho Hien longans are grown mainly along the dyke from Dang Chau-Xich Dang to the gate of the Luoc River. Its roots cling firmly to the land. Longan trees around the house can stop the wind. Its wood, which is hard and in dark red colour, is used to make durable furniture. Longan charcoal is very good for cooking herbal medicine. It is a kind of tree that devotes all it has to the human beings. Longan trees blossom in the rainy season in spring. In warm and sunny days, the sound of bees and the flagrance of its flowers make people go into ecstasy.

Longans are ripe in the sixth lunar month. A folk verse reads that “Trading longans in the sixth lunar month is extremely profitable.” A bundle of longans with some green leaves on it is often used to offer to ancestors during anniversaries, which is a cultural beauty.

Thoc (Very small) longans are for children to eat. Water longans are dried to make dry longans. Long longans with big fruits, thick pulp and special fragrance are used to treat guests and to be given as gifts. When one eats a candy longan, its sweetness is absorbed from the tongue to the stump and then spreads throughout the whole body. The quintessence of the earth and the heaven aggregates as an offering to the growers. Dry longans on branches added with some green leaves will be a surprise for stylish people during Tet festival. Dried longan is a good kind of medicine for women. It can be soaked in wine and people can take some cups of this wine every day to help them have a better appetite, a better sleep and a more composed character.

In each good crop of longans, overall Hung Yen province earns about VND 150-200 billion. At present, many households in Hung Yen city and its neighboring areas have established big farms to grow engrafted longan orchards. One longan tree can earn its owner some Vietnamese dong million. Many families use profits from longan orchards as marriage portion for their children or their own old-age pension. Beneath longan leaves are beehives raised by farmers to take honey, which has an economic value and is a precious medicine.

A vast area of longan cultivation and bee rising has been formed in Hung Yen thanks to favorable natural conditions.

Visitors often come to Hung Yen to see the ancestral longan tree in front of Hien Pagoda, which is hundreds of years old.