The Golden Taste of Autumn

Arriving in Fanlu Township, Chiayi County, we find hillsides full of niuxin (oxheart) persimmon trees laden with fruit. 

Golden-yellow niuxin dried persimmons, soft and chewy beneath a thin coating of natural “sugar bloom” (crystallized fruit sugar), offer a taste of Taiwan’s autumn in every bite.

A home for persimmons

Zhang Dengyi, manager of the Fanlu Township Farmers’ Association’s dried-persimmon processing factory, explains that the township’s 70% share of Taiwan’s niuxin persimmons owes much to its climate and terrain. “The mountains of Chiayi get a lot of afternoon thunderstorms. Persimmons grow larger only where there is plenty of rain. Fanlu also has a lot of gravelly soil, which gives the fruit firm, crisp flesh. You could say it is the right crop for the right place, as the natural climate has given Fanlu a longstanding advantage in growing niuxin persimmons.”

Many of the fresh persimmons used to make the famous wind-dried persimmons of Beipu and other townships in Hsinchu County come from Fanlu. Those northern producers benefit from the strong northeastern monsoon autumn winds known as the jiujiangfeng.

Yet despite continuing demand, Fanlu’s persimmon orchards, which once covered 400–500 hectares at their peak, had dwindled to fewer than 200 hectares a few years ago. For one thing, elderly farmers retired or could no longer tend their orchards, or were fed up with middlemen at produce wholesalers taking a big cut. Meanwhile, typhoons or torrential rain have at times sharply reduced yields, causing farmgate prices to be extremely unstable. The end result was that many farmers abandoned their orchards or switched crops.

A worker arranges peeled persimmons neatly on bake-drying trays.

Golden persimmons are first processed with an effervescent de-astringency treatment using baking soda and citric acid and then are peeled.

Bringing persimmons back

To keep this remote rural industry from fading away, Cindy Chao, general manager of the Fanlu Township Farmers’ Association (FTFA), has worked in recent years to transform its operations. Guaranteed-price purchasing and strict quality management for contract-grown fruit protect farmers’ earnings and have encouraged them to grow persimmons again.

Li Ruilin, a 72-year-old farmer, is picking fresh fruit to deliver to the FTFA. He is one of the growers who have returned to persimmon farming anew. With plenty of rain this year, he says, he can even plant abiu, known locally as “golden fruit,” after harvesting the persimmons.

FTFA processing factory director Zhang Dengyi says guaranteed-price purchasing has made farmers more willing to supply their persimmons to the association. His facility can currently process up to 3,500 Taiwanese catties, or 2,100 kilograms, of fresh persimmons a day, but an expansion is being planned: The future automated production line will be able to handle 5,000 catties, or 3,000 kilograms, a day.

Chao has introduced a grading strategy for dried persimmons, and, drawing on the strength of the Chiayi County Government’s CHIAYUM brand, the FTFA has gained access to major retail channels and entered markets in Japan and Singapore. Its premium dried diamond honey persimmons with thick flesh and a natural sugar bloom are one example: Elegantly packaged, they are available exclusively through upscale retailers such as Breeze Super in Taipei. A box of six is priced at NT$799, a price reflecting the product’s high-end reputation.

Li Ruilin, 72, harvests newly ripened niuxin persimmons.

Hands-on experiences and a persimmon festival

Alongside the numerous processed products the FTFA has recently developed—raising the total to 90 such products—in order to find outlets for the persimmon crop, it also combines leisure tourism with food and agricultural education to draw visitors from across Taiwan to this rural township.

While dried-persimmon processing of this year’s crop will continue into early 2027, beginning on October 3, 2026, the Fanlu Township Persimmon Festival will offer events over three consecutive weeks. Coinciding with a bumper niuxin harvest, the festival gives visitors a chance to see how the fruit is processed to remove astringency using an effervescent treatment in water with added baking soda and citric acid, then peeled and dried in ovens. They can also be among the first to taste the season’s freshly made golden dried persimmons and products that make use of the whole fruit.

In addition, on-site hands-on printmaking workshops will let visitors take a little of Fanlu’s persimmon culture home. There are also other things to do, including new-product tastings, food and agricultural experiential activities, and a local market, that will also bring people closer to the land. The Festival will not only draw tourists to Fanlu, it will inject youthful energy into this rural community.

Like the changes made by the FTFA, the persimmon trees replanted across the wooded highlands are quietly taking root, heralding a remarkable transformation for this rural farming community.

Grading, elegant packaging, and the Chiayi County Government’s CHIAYUM brand have helped the Fanlu Township Farmers’ Association’s premium diamond honey dried persimmons get onto the shelves at Taipei’s toney Breeze Super.