Carved melons prove a hit for rural fruit seller

In the summer, watermelon peddlers can be spotted along many of North China's country roads, but few sell their fruit in the same way as a teacher in Pingdingshan city's Jiaxian county, Henan province.

Gu Xinliang carves Chinese characters into the rind of his home grown watermelons before selling them to passers-by. His novel idea has helped the 56-year-old teacher from Heimiao village sell 3,000 kg of water-melons in 13 days.

"I want people to be happy while enjoying my watermelons in the summer," said Gu, as three buyers watched him carve the character for "fu" ("happiness") into a water-melon using only his thumb-nails.