The tools of the fruit trade
To the editor:
The end of the rainy period is approaching. For the past few weeks, rain, cloudy skies, and fog have been on the weather agenda. This has led to a few short tempers and much frustration with the limits that such weather puts on activities.
Finally though, the trees are leafing out, green shoots have stabilized and are stretching their leaves and branches into the sun. Probably by next week the sun will be out in full force and we will be dealing with the humidity and heat of summer time weather.
Now that the evenings are warming up and it is easy to walk about the streets the fruit sellers are busy. Fruit sales in China are very much seasonal activities. Beginning about the time that we tap trees for syrup, the vendors are selling strawberries and plums. Those have now given way to pineapples, bananas and other more exotic fruits.
I live in a rebuilt area of the city and it is still putting in stores. So there is not a fruit stand as older parts of the city have. Instead the sellers load their produce on a three wheeled cart and move from street corner to street corner. Mounds of grapes, red and white, are being sold. Picking up a plastic bag you select your fruit and then give it to the proprietor. He then hauls out a weight stick, weighs it and quotes you a price. Some haggling about the quantity and quality ensues. Money is exchanged and one walks away with a treat. Most of the fruit is very close to ripening and even with a fridge you need to eat it quickly before it goes bad.
A weight stick is just as it sounds: a stick that weighs your produce. Often these are old and have been in the family for many years. It’s in the shape of a tapered cone. At the fat end is a hook. There are marks and groves cut into the stick at even intervals. There is a small weight that is suspended opposite the hook. By moving this weight along the line of the stick equilibrium is achieved. When this happens, the seller can tell you how much mass your purchase is and therefore how much it will cost you. This has been the tool of the fruit seller since the first caveman set up shop.
Time to go buy some fruit. On the menu are bananas, pineapples, melons, grapes and dragon fruit. Yummy. Can’t wait for fruit salad.
Orpheus Allison
Guangzhou, China
orpheusallison@mac.com
