Recently, photos of trees bearing ripe longan, jackfruit, lychee, wax apple, sapodilla, and other fruit in Haikou’s People’s Park have stirred heated discussions and gotten a ton of likes online.

A tree in Haikou’s People’s Park laden with longan fruit (Photo: Wang Kangjing / Hinews)

Giant jackfruit hang from a tree in Haikou’s People’s Park (Photo: Wang Kangjing / Hinews)

A wax apple tree in Haikou’s People’s Park (Photo: Wang Kangjing / Hinews)

A sapodilla tree in Haikou’s People’s Park (Photo: Wang Kangjing / Hinews)

Comments have piled up under online videos showing the phenomenon. “How many fruit trees are there?” “People’s Park should be called People’s Orchard instead!” Other people left more practical questions. “Can you pick and eat the fruit for free?” 

According to a representative of the Haikou People’s Park Management Office, there are nearly 1,000 fruit trees in the park, including about 700 coconut palms, as well as wax apple, longyan, jackfruit, sapodilla, lychee, and egg fruit trees.

“We would like to remind park visitors that fruit growing in the park may not be picked without permission. The park is a public place and the trees are public assets. Some visitors have climbed up trees to pick fruit without regard for safety, while others have damaged trees by picking fruit incorrectly.” Since there is so much fruit, falling fruit can also cause safety hazards. When ripe fruit drops to the ground, the path can become slippery and attract mosquitoes, which can spread disease. To solve these problems, park management usually thins out and processes the fruit before it matures, leaving a few for small animals such as squirrels to enjoy.

“However, we will take suggestions into considerations in the future, such as picking ripe fruit and sharing them with visitors at no charge,” said the park representative.