Snow pear farmers in Yunhe are bringing in a bumper harvest this year. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]

The Fifth Farmers Harvest Festival and Snow Pear Festival opened on Sept 20 in the Sukeng Pear Garden – located in Yunhe county, administered by Lishui city, in East China's Zhejiang province.

The pear garden is divided into four areas for pear picking, Baoshan Flower Drum Opera performances, a Pear King competition and for livestreaming sales.

At the opening ceremony of the ongoing festival, local villagers performed rituals to worship the gods for this year's harvest and to have blessing for next year.

In the Pear King competition area, the judges assessed the pears presented by the farmers in terms of their color, uniformity of size, shape, weight and other indicators. In the end, local grower Lan Huanshi's 2-kilogram snow pear won the title.

The Yunhe snow pear, with its sweet and juicy flesh, is said to help reduce heat and quenches a person's thirst, producing beneficial health side benefits for the spleen and lungs.

The pear boasts a long planting history and standard pear orchards cover 1,100 mu (73.33 hectares).

Always popular with the public, the Yunhe snow pear has national geographical indication certification – a premium and internationally recognized label used in exports – and it has been selected as one of the top 100 regional agricultural brands in Zhejiang province.