Deng Baoshan was originally a senior general of the Kuomintang, played an important role in the Beiping Peace Talks, and later served as chairman of the Gansu Provincial People's Government and governor of Gansu Province.
Deng Baoshan attached great importance to Gansu's economic development. White lanua, formerly known as honeydew melon, is one of the famous specialties of Gansu, native to California, USA. Zhang Xinyi, a Gansu native who received a master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University in the United States in 1941, conducted water and soil conservation experiments in Xujiashan, Lanzhou, when he was the director of the provincial construction department.
Once, the director of the US Soil and Water Conservation Bureau came to inspect, and he told Zhang Xinyi: "Next year, your classmate US Vice President Wallace is invited to visit China, what do you want him to bring?" Zhang Xinyi said: "Bring some seeds that have both economic benefits and can maintain water and soil!" "
The following year, Wallace visited China, and sure enough, at the request of Zhang Xinyi, he brought some seeds of honeydew melon and a batch of pasture seeds. After the honeydew melon was tried in The Shatian of Lanzhou, the melon produced was sweet and delicious, more delicious than the origin of the United States, and the people of Lanzhou called it "Wallace".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, "Wallace" was not called as a melon name, but Governor Deng Baoshan did not forget it. When he inspected the melon fields in Yantan, a beautiful island in the Yellow River in Lanzhou, he gave the melon a name "White Orchid Melon" according to the color and origin of the melon skin. Deng Baoshan not only named the brand melon, but also paid great attention to the cultivation and sales of the white melon. As long as there are visitors, they will be entertained with this melon, and Many celebrities such as Guo Moruo, Ye Shengtao, Mei Lanfang, Zhu Guangqian, and Chang Renxia will be full of praise after tasting.
To this end, someone also wrote a poem, entitled "Lanzhou Deng Baoshan Governor Beckons Banquet, Eating Melons with Nostalgia", which says:
Who knows the desolation of the northwest? Export melon for drunken fragrance.
The infinite treasure is inexhaustible, and the recruiter looks at his hometown again.
In order to sell white melons, Deng Baoshan went to Beijing for a meeting, and also brought a few baskets of white melons to the central leaders, and everyone praised the melons for their delicious and sweet taste. Deng Baoshan used every opportunity to publicize this specialty of Gansu, and the white langua not only walked on the state banquet in Zhongnanhai, but also went out of the country and became one of the four famous products of Gansu in the world.
After the reform and opening up, the provinces have been selling their own special products and playing the special product card, so some people recalled the past and said, "Governor Deng Baoshan of Gansu was the first governor to sell!" "