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(fā)源于非洲沙漠地區(qū)，經(jīng)由絲綢之路傳到中國(guó)西部和古中國(guó)的回紇（現(xiàn)新疆維吾爾自治區(qū)）。唐朝初期西瓜在新疆出現(xiàn)，五代十國(guó)（公元907-960年）和遼代（916-1125年）期間傳入中國(guó)內(nèi)陸地區(qū)。