Yesterday (6-26-2012) in one of the Chinese food stores at Portland (Oregon), we spotted Lychee, the imported seasonal fruit. At close to $3 per pound, it was pretty expensive. But, knowing that the season will not last, and that the fruit must have come a long way, I bought about five pounds, and, on getting home, I at once ate about one pound. With a mixed feeling of longing and gratification, I recalled the days when I was eating this hometown fruit in Longhai (Fujian, China) 50 years ago.

At that time, my mother was working in a rural grocery store about two miles from Zhangzhou City (Fujian, China), and I would come back from college during summer vacation to find Lychee ripening on the trees in the village where we lived, and on both sides of the road. Local peasants would pass by with large bamboo baskets of Lychee on their shoulders. Once while I was fishing with my brother by the pond, our neighbor peasant stopped and gave us brothers two armfuls of Lychee, fresh from the tree, with leaves and twigs still attached. During the harvest, Lychee was very crisp and cheap. And at age 20, I once consumed 15 pounds of Lychee all by myself, without stopping.

I had thought that my hometown was the kingdom of sub-tropical fruits, until, in 2007. I stepped on the island of Taiwan, and saw the variety, abundance, and quality of fruits there. The mango there is four or five times as big as the mango in my hometown, and they have a miniature Lychee that is unmatched by its taste and fragrance. After our trip to Taiwan, we visited my hometown, and met with my former students in Zhangzhou. At the guest house where we stayed, the first thing that greeted my eye was a plate of fruits that my former students placed.

I no longer have the guts to eat 15 pounds of Lychee without stopping, but I still miss hometown Lychee, and the people and friendship behind it.

昨天（2012年6月26日）去波特兰的中国食品店看到有荔枝在卖。说是中国来的，很贵（一斤近三美元）。但想了想，还是买了五斤。到家以后，赶快先吃一斤，回味一下家乡荔枝的风味，回味一下五十多年前在家乡九湖吃荔枝的感觉。

五十多年前，妈妈在离漳州五里路的九湖供销社当营业员，弟弟在漳州一中读初中，我在福州读大学。暑假回到妈妈身旁，正是荔枝季节，而九湖正是盛产荔枝的地方。公路两旁，居家前后，都是矮壮的荔枝树。有一次与弟弟在池塘边钓鱼，遇到认识的社员（农业生产队队员）挑荔枝经过。他停下担子，双手捧了一堆连枝带叶的荔枝给我们兄弟俩。荔枝大出的时候，我曾经一个人一次吃下15斤荔枝。有一次遇到福州部队开车到供销社来买荔枝，妈妈还托他们给慕适（我们在福州的朋友）带去一些。部队的同志到福州后，果然用摩托车送到慕适所在的工厂去给他（那工厂有一个很堂皇的名字：环球布鞋厂）。

文革后期，认识了漳州的联亨和他的农民朋友祝三。祝三家在九湖。于是，每到荔枝季节，我和联亨都吃到祝三留给我们的特选的荔枝。直到文革后我们到了厦门大学，祝三的妻子还曾专程给我们送荔枝来。

2007年我们到台湾时，才知道真正的水果之乡在哪里。台湾的水果味道甜美，种类繁多。台湾有个头比龙海芒果大四五倍的芒果，还有个头不大，却十分珍贵的荔枝，叫玉荷包。我们到台湾时，玉荷包的季节早过，但台湾亲人已经替我们留一盒剥壳的在冰箱。

到漳州时，又在漳州宾馆里尝到了新鲜荔枝。那是漳州业大的同学们送的。如今，我没有机会和肚子一次吃15斤荔枝了。但看到荔枝，我就怀念起家乡和家乡人的亲情。