Yes, I mean the imported fruit (assuming the Ya Li you purchased was labeled correctly…). I’ve seen a Korla pear (库尔勒香梨) with a Snow pear (雪梨) sticker marketed under grocery store over head label 新疆香梨 (Xinjiang Fragrant pear). Grocery labels can be as much of a mess as nursery labels.
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@JustPeachy yes completely agree. It’s a game of telephone where no one even knows the original language that was broadcasted.
But anyway, in the receiver it doesn’t matter., even if original message was corrupted. It will take on new meaning. Same word in different languages could mean quite different things. Look up “gift” in English and in German.
There are many types of pears like bai li in the usda pyrus main caralog that appear to be part of this category NCGR-Corvallis: Pyrus Catalog
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梨 in Taiwanese Hokkien is pronounced lai. Tsu Li definitely isn’t from Taiwan nor is the name Taiwanese (in Hokkien, ts would have typically been romanized as ch or chh depending on whether or not it’s aspirated). The only pears I have seen grown in Taiwan are Japanese varieties grown at higher elevations and a small, very gritty, astringent, round pear that is only sold after it has been pickled in brine. This was the only pear available when my grandparent’s were growing up, high elevation pear farming having developed mostly after WWII.
The high elevation farming is still sparse in Taiwan (like high high or high-mid not high-low such as 阿里山 tea plantings), mainly due to logistical reasons (water, land access, etc…). It’s usually used for anything requiring high chill hours, as that’s the only place you’ll get the cold enough chill hour weather in Taiwan. You could go east side too of course where it’s a bit more temperate.
I’m pretty sure there is more land dedicated to peaches in the mountains than pears, like for 拉拉山水蜜桃. They are also some small scale nut plantings like Chestnuts in the mountains.
Anywhere tropical though I rather just eat more tropical fruits though.
