As the temperature creeps up, there are tiny berries of red deepening in the Beijing suburbs which herald the arrival of strawberry season. Li Jing reports.

If you are dreaming of sinking your teeth into juicy, sweet fruit, now is the time to head for Changping, the rustic suburb northwest of Beijing. The area, lying at 40 degrees north latitude, is considered one of the best areas for growing strawberries and from Feb 18 to 22, it will host the Seventh International Strawberry Symposium.

Founded by the International Society for Horticultural Science in 1988, the symposium is held every four years and showcases the latest global high-tech achievements and development in the strawberry industry. This is the first time an Asian country will be the host.

An imposing, futuristic building is home to the symposium, with the many small windows decorated like the tiny yellow seeds on the strawberries. Five exhibition areas house more than 100 kinds of strawberries from Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Australia.

It promises to be eye-opening. Among the plants on show will be Britain's Pineberry and a fruit from Japan that tastes like chocolate, both of which will redefine your definitions of strawberries.

In the halls, strawberries no longer grow on the ground, but hang in the air or stand on shelves. The 6,000-square-meter expo garden of the symposium is covered by a roof of strawberries, with more than 80,000 plants, infusing the air with the sweetness of the fruit.

The garden features a number of solar greenhouses with 27 different strawberry varieties grown in China. These special strawberries are softer and sweeter than most varieties around the world to better cater to Asian's tastes. The garden will be open to the public until June.

There will also be strawberry cakes, ice cream and reserves to sample or take home.

Residents in Changping will also offer visitors a chance to do their own strawberry picking. Around the symposium area, strawberry greenhouses spread as far as the eye can see and it's a chance to try your hand in gathering a punnet, which will give you a truly field to table experiences.

You may contact the writer at lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 02/19/2012 page15)