An Unlikely “Lychee Express” Gives Spotlight to Lingnan Sweetness丨CBN Perspective
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Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.
As summer heats up, lychee fruit becomes one of the season's most sought-after treats. And guest what? In the sweltering summer of 2025, an historical drama exploded onto screens like a burst of ripe lychee juice, staining the Lingnan cultural landscape in vibrant red.
Adapted from awards-winning author Ma Boyong’s sharp-witted novella, "The Litchi Road" galloped into hearts as Tang Dynasty low-ranking official Li Shande’s Herculean quest to deliver fresh lychees from Lingnan to Chang’an unfolded.
This was simply “Mission Impossible:” Lingnan was a region roughly encompassing the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, and Guangxi, even parts of Yunnan and Fujian provinces, while his destination Chang'an, was the country's then capital, now Xi'an, in Northwest China's Shaanxi province. The journey spanned over 2,500 kilometers and took more than 20 days on horseback, yet lychees only stayed fresh for three days.
For people living in northern China during ancient times, lychee was a luxury, most time, impossible to procure, even for the Emperor and his precious concubine Yang Yuhuan.
Starring actor Lei Jiayin as Li, the drama follows life-or-death challenge amid an already difficult life. How could Li devise a feasible method to fulfill the emperor's seemingly absurd demand?
First aired on national TV and streaming sites last Saturday, the plots continue to unfold as Li manages to overcome obstacles inflicted both by nature and human, to reach an unlikely goal.
But this wasn’t your average period drama—it soon became a tidal wave, drowning social media in lychee emojis, emptying fruit stalls faster than a summer storm, and even redrawing China’s tourism map with lychee-shaped pins.
From its first episode, "The Litchi Road" smashed records like overripe fruit under a galloping horse. Tencent Video’s “binge-o-meter” hit a ridiculous 25,913 in just three days, catapulting it into the platform’s VIP club—reserved for shows so hot, they come with a fan and a cold drink.
Over on CCTV-8, it dominated the primetime viewership, snagging a 1.20% average rating and a peak of 1.38%—top dog among all dramas that summer.
The “lychee effect” continues to spill over to e-commerce platforms. JD.com saw Guangdong lychee orders soar 560% year-on-year, while Meituan’s searches for “Guangdong lychee” spiked 143% in June.
Alibaba’s marketplace Taobao even went full Tang Dynasty, creating a virtual “Lychee Bazaar” with lantern-lit livestreams and merchants wearing ancient costumes selling lychees. The campaign racked up 600 million views.
Brands are also riding the lychee wave, as Pagoda, China’s premium fruit store chain, sold 110,000 packs of "The Litchi Road"-branded Feizixiao lychees in 48 hours—each box stamped with Li Shande’s exhausted face.
Dongguan, one of Guangdong’s lychee hub, dazzles with creative-lychee derived food. Locals craft sun-dried lychee snacks for herbal teas, ferment tangy lychee vinegar, and infuse rice wine with lychee notes. Trendy cafes serve lychee-oolong cold brews, rose-infused lychee spritzers, and lychee coffee tonics. Even savory innovations like lychee-stuffed sausages and dim sum appear in local feasts, as the city redefines lychee from fruit to cultural culinary icon.
The frenzy continues to charge into tourism market. Suddenly, Lingnan’s lush orchards and Chang’an’s bustling markets weren’t just backdrops—they became pilgrimage site for tourists and fans.
The crew teamed up with Guangdong’s tourism bureau to recreate the show’s “lychee relay” in real life—12 hours, 1,800 kilometers, and a convoy of refrigerated trucks dressed as Tang carriages. News outlets worldwide lost their minds, calling it “the sweetest logistics mission since the Silk Road.”
“A horse’s hooves raised red dust as it raced; no one knew the lychees were for the concubine’s smile.” Lychee, once a seasonal commodity, is now a symbol of Tang Dynasty romance, of modern marketing magic, and of how a 1,300-year-old poem can echo in a 2025 Luckin Coffee cup.
For millennia, lychees have been more than a fruit in Lingnan culture—they’re a living symbol weaving history, tradition, and economic life.
Native to southern China with 4,000 years of cultivation records, these ruby-red gems carry profound symbolism: their vibrant skin represents prosperity, while the sweet pulp embodies love and fertility in art and literature. In traditional medicine, lychees are revered for enhancing vitality and beauty, blending culinary delight with healing wisdom.
In Guangdong, the "lychee heartland," the fruit anchors local economies, with annual harvest festivals celebrating its role in community heritage.
From Han Dynasty records to modern-day cultural events, lychees illustrate how a simple fruit can transcend time—binding together agricultural tradition, artistic expression, and commercial life. Their story is a testament to human culture’s ability to invest nature’s bounty with meaning that spans dynasties.
Editor: LI Yanxia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: Stephanie LI
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
Presented by SFC
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