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
本期，课题组重点关注理财公司发行的混合类产品，从代销渠道为投资者筛选出表现较优的在售产品。为提供有效的选品参考，榜单展示了产品近一月、近三月及近六月的年化业绩，并按照近三月年化 南方财经 21世纪经济报道记者 袁思杰 香港报道3月11日，由南方财经全媒体集团主 以前，投资现货黄金选平台可太难了。市场上平台多如牛毛，质量却良莠不齐。有的平台交易系统不稳定，经常卡顿，投资者想买卖黄金时，根本没法及时操作，错过很多赚钱的机会。还有些平台收费不透明，手续费、点差高得离谱，投资者辛苦 基于对国产新能源熔断器赛道增长潜力的高度认可，稳正资产近日完成对浙江中贝能源科技有限公司（简称“中贝能源”）的追加投资。本轮融资将进一步强化中贝能源在电力熔断器领域的领先地位，助力其紧抓国产替代与新能源产业双 。本文链接：An Unlikely “Lychee Express” Gives Spotlight to Lingnan Sweetness丨CBN Perspectivehttp://www.sushuapos.com/show-3-147281-0.html
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