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File photo of the 15th Malu Grape Festival in Malu town, Jiading district of Shanghai in 2015. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn] |
The 16th Malu Grape Festival get underway from July 2 this year, running for three months, at Malu town, Jiading district, Shanghai.
The annual festival, which has been held since 2000, celebrates the season when Malu's grapes are at their finest, with eight varieties of locally-grown grapes available to taste and purchase, as well as a whole range of activities for visitors to take part in.
Some of the highlights of this year's festival will be wine-tasting, art exhibitions, lectures on grape cultivation, park parties and even a blind-dating event.
Visitors will also be able to pick two types of early maturing grapes straight from the vine at Malu Grape Theme Park.
Some 60 percent of this year's crop has been given a technological edge, in that as well as introducing new varieties, farmers have been able to apply a process known as root restriction, which deprives the vine of excess water and produces sweeter grapes with less cracking on the skin.
Shan Tao, deputy head of the Shanghai Malu Institute of Viticulture, said, "The cultivation methods of the farmers not only help to reduce the amount of planting soil, fertilizer, water and manual labor that's needed, but also ensure less cracks on the fruit."