A bite of Belt and Road

A vendor stands behind watermelons displayed for sale in Kfar Tebnit village, southern Lebanon, August 18, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

17. Watermelon

Watermelon, which originated in the desert of Africa, was brought along the Silk Road to western China and Ouigour – located in today's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region – in ancient China. It appeared in Xinjiang during the early Tang Dynasty, and in China's inland between the Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdomgs (AD 907-960) and Liao Dynasty (916-1125).