Waxberries in Mashan are now ripe for the picking. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2019 Wuxi Waxberry Festival kicked off in Mashan, a town famous for the tasty fruit, in Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, on June 12.

The waxberry, known locally as the yang mei, or Chinese bayberry, is the fruit of the wax myrtle tree. They have been harvested for thousands of years in China and used medicinally form ancient times.

This year, the best period to taste waxberries is from June 10 to 25, and the price is set at 25 yuan ($3.61) per 500 grams, Zhou Lingqing, a local official, told the opening ceremony.

Enthusiasts say waxberries grown in Mashan taste sweeter and juicier than in other areas of China due to the favorable weather and soil conditions and it's a popular fruit in early summer among people from around the area.

At this time of every year, the town welcomes many tourists from surrounding cities including Shanghai and Changzhou -- besides residents in Wuxi coming for fresh waxberries.

This weekend is expected to see the peak of waxberries trading and fruit-picking tours, Zhou said.

The output of waxberries in Mashan was worth 80 million yuan in 2018 and the planting area now covers more than 800 hectares.

A woman poses for a photo with the new mascot for Mashan waxberries, at the opening ceremony on June 12. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To bring more benefits to fruit growers and increase the area's publicity, the local government launched a variety of promotional events -- including a photo shoot of a mascot for the waxberries interacting with residents and posting videos online of the session.

In addition to the waxberries, visitors can come and savor the natural scenery at the scenic area and enjoy the different kinds of local food during the festival.

Visitors pick waxberries on the mountainside in Mashan, a town in Wuxi, in Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]