Chairman Mao-Shaped Fruit Are Being Grown in China

How Yono all app would you like a nice Chinese gourd? One that’s shaped like Chairman Mao? Or, how about Jesus? According to a spot on Youku, a man named Xie Lyu Zhi visited the Thousand Year Temple in Sichuan, China and a Buddhist monk told him a dream he had about a gourd shaped like a famous deity. Xie decided this meant he should create artistic gourds. And thus… Xie’s gourds are grown without any pesticides, which mean that many of them perish. The gourds come in a variety of shapes, ranging from Jesus to the God of Fortune and from Chairman Mao to, even, Santa Claus. So, yeah, not all of the gourds look like Mao! And not all gourds in China look like this, so don’t think that.cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"e3616d04-4972-4839-a63a-c6975e2e9731","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.kotaku.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"1625440139","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"kotaku-east","SECTION":"","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"kotaku-east","TAGS":"","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); These are special gourds. The vegetables are grown into a plastic case, giving them their shape. There are other farmers making shaped-gourds as in the photos from 0379City: In China, gourds are associated with good luck and money. They are also assorted with various deities. They’re highly auspicious! all yono app So, there is a tradition of painting images on gourds. These shaped gourds are an evolution of that tradition. 淘宝, 店铺, 旺铺, 浙江天台山艺术葫芦 [Taobao] 瞧！葫芦架上长”神仙” [0379City] 视频: 浙江天台山艺术葫芦 [Youku via ロケットニュース] Eric Jou contributed to this report. Top photo: 守护天使雪儿/Weibo To contact the author of this post, go rummy write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.