You like watermelons? Happen to be visiting Beijing, China. Well, you’re in luck. The world’s only watermelon museum is located in the southern part of the city in the Daxing district, supposedly the “hometown of the watermelon.” In case you didn’t already know, China has an ancient melon culture. It’s been in China since the 10th century and today the country is the world’s single largest watermelon producer. So everything you ever wanted to know about the fruit is found right here, from the museum’s watermelon-shaped building to the 4,000 square meters of exhibit space tracing the history of watermelon cultivation and the different varieties of watermelon. There is a collection of classical watermelon art, different kinds of watermelon toothpaste (um..no thanks!), a model of a satellite that is used to monitor the growing of watermelons, and cabinets full of watermelon seeds, which is a a popular snack amongst the Chinese. Wherever you go, you can’t escape it! The watermelon motif of the museum is even carried out in the balustrades and walkways of the building. During the summer months visitors can taste the dozens of melons that are grown in the museum’s garden. Speaking of the outdoors, this is where you’ll find a weird sculpture park full of statues depicting people (and pigs!) eating what else…watermelons!
Watermelon Museum, China
