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

17. Watermelon 西瓜

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).
西瓜發源于非洲沙漠地區，經由絲綢之路傳到中國西部和古中國的回紇（現新疆維吾爾自治區）。唐朝初期西瓜在新疆出現，五代十國（公元907-960年）和遼代（916-1125年）期間傳入中國內陸地區。