The town of Pangezhuang in suburban Beijing, also known as the land of watermelons, has been hosting a watermelon festival for 32 years to celebrate its green prowess. And among the watermelon growers in the town, Song Shaotang is one of the most famous ones, a second-generation entrant who learned the skills from his father, a melon grower since the 1980s.

Song grows his fruits aerially in greenhouses, where they hang and grow in the air. This has become the town's signature cultivation process. Song told Beijing Review they have been using online methods, such as live-streaming promotion and group buying, to minimize the influence of the novel coronavirus disease.

This year's watermelon festival was held mainly online on May 28, combined with restricted offline activities. There were over 250 participants from Beijing, other cities in nearby provinces and even Shanghai, with local farmer Xie Zhengjiang lifting the "King of Watermelons" title with his giant offering weighing 172.6 kg.

(Text and photos by Wei Yao)

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

Comments to weiyao@bjreview.com