SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 
a small soft fruit, while a third grows in the foot- 
hills and on the plains. 
There are a number of cultivated Pears in China, 
belonging to three pronounced types. The com- 
monest of these is characterized by very yellow 
skin, hard, white, somewhat granular flesh, with 
no very spécial flavour. It is juicy and refreshing, 
but very few Europeans like it. The finest variety, 
known as Ya-li, comes from Kuo-Hsien in North 
Shansi, in which district several other well known 
varieties are cultivated. 
Another type of Pear is the Pai li, which is 
small with a pale yellow skin and a-soft white 
flesh of a distinct though delicate flavour. This 
variety is grown round Peking, and is often called 
the Peking Pear. 
The third type has a dark yellow-brown skin, 
with very soft, granular, juicy flesh. In flavour 
this Pear resembles more closely the European 
varieties, though it is much inferior to them. | 
It is supposed to have been developed from the 
second mentioned species of Wild Pear. 
A Crab-apple (Malus baccata) is to be found 
in the northern provinces of China, though it is 
by no means common. The fruit is very small, 
though of a good flavour. 
China is very poor in cultivated Apples, only 
very inferior varieties being grown. Of these 
the P’ing-kuo is most esteemed by the Chinese. 
This is a large Apple with a pale green skin and 
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