en.Wedoany.com Reported - On July 6, Wushan Crisp Plum in China officially opened for harvest, and the "Post-Transport Express" air-rail intermodal system was upgraded. Special postal aircraft fly directly to Nanjing for distribution, covering over a thousand cities nationwide; unmanned vehicles connect to high-speed rail, linking the Chengdu-Chongqing region.
This year, the total output of Wushan Crisp Plum is expected to reach 145,000 tons. With a scientific combination of early, mid, and late-maturing varieties, the supply period for fresh fruit extends up to 60 days. The "high-speed rail + express delivery" dual-channel ensures fruit preservation efficiency, with "order today, receive plums tomorrow" becoming the standard delivery time.
In recent years, the logistics system for Wushan Crisp Plum has been continuously upgraded. With the opening of Wushan Airport, the launch of the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-Speed Railway, the renovation of the Yangtze River waterway, combined with the Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway and eight tourist loop lines, the "Post-Transport Express" county-village three-tier delivery network has opened up the "first mile" for plums to leave the mountains, significantly reducing rural logistics costs.
Logistics upgrades have a direct impact on fruit farmers' incomes. In 2022, Wushan pioneered the "Crisp Plum Special Aircraft," opening the country's first county-level agricultural product cargo flight route. That year, the average price per kilogram of exported plums increased by over 4 yuan. In 2024, Wushan was selected as one of the first "Post-Transport Express" pilot districts in the city, forming a drone fleet to build an "aerial corridor," adopting an "air-to-air intermodal" model, reducing transfer time from orchard to airport from 1 hour to 8 minutes, and cutting the loss rate from 15% to within 5%. In 2025, high-speed rail express delivery was piloted, robot dogs were introduced for field transport, and cold-chain road express lines and the "Thousand-Mile Light Boat" water shuttle were launched, expanding transport modes from single road to a parallel "water-land-air" system.
This year, Wushan has further upgraded to a "water-land-air+" transport chain, building a full-chain intelligent three-dimensional logistics system integrating "drones + Crisp Plum special aircraft + high-speed rail express + unmanned vehicle shuttles + customized water transport + land cold-chain direct delivery." This system integrates existing transport capacity and adds new unmanned equipment, with six transport modes operating in coordination.
In terms of air transport, the "Express Fresh" special postal aircraft will operate continuously for 20 days, with one flight per day, each carrying a maximum load of 15 tons, totaling 300 tons of capacity across 20 flights, covering over 1,000 cities nationwide. The aircraft fly directly to Nanjing for distribution, achieving delivery within 24 hours to most cities. For high-speed rail transport, two express lines from Wushan Station to Chongqing North and Chengdu East operate daily, with fixed shipments of Crisp Plum packages. Four new unmanned shuttle vehicles, each with a load capacity of 0.8 tons, handle short-distance transfers from the county logistics distribution center to the high-speed rail station, enabling immediate loading and departure. The drone fleet continues to operate the cross-river "aerial corridor," with a single load capacity of 50 kg, covering concentrated orchard areas along the Yangtze River, such as Quchi and Daxi. For water transport, 24 ferries are deployed on the seasonal "Crisp Plum Special Ferry" route, covering 7 water-adjacent townships, with a daily capacity of 6 tons. For ground cold chain, companies including China Post, SF Express, JD Logistics, and Deppon have deployed 18 refrigerated trucks on 6 direct routes to neighboring provinces.
A relevant official from the Wushan County Transportation Commission stated that this logistics system has improved transport efficiency while expanding market reach and the bargaining power of the production area. In the past, Crisp Plum exports relied on road transport, requiring three to four days of multiple transfers to reach consumers outside the region, leading to fruit softening and flavor loss, with the export market long confined to neighboring provinces and cities. Now, over 1,000 cities nationwide can receive deliveries the next day, expanding the sales radius from hundreds to thousands of kilometers, and shifting pricing power from wholesalers back to the production area. Fruit farmers can pick in an orderly manner based on orders, avoiding low-price sell-offs.
The Crisp Plum industry has also driven supporting sectors such as sorting, packaging, cold chain, and logistics, providing approximately 10,000 temporary jobs during the harvest season. Behind the brand value of 10.5 billion yuan lies a complete industrial chain from planting to sales. Under the "Post-Transport Express" pilot framework, Wushan Crisp Plum's logistics model coordinates resources from aviation, rail, road, and water transport departments, introduces new technologies like unmanned vehicles and drones, and forms customized solutions for fresh agricultural products. This offers a reference for other specialty agricultural production areas in mountainous regions facing similar logistics bottlenecks.
