During the National Day, walking in the orangery of Yiling District, you can see oranges and tangerines bending the branches of the trees. In the fields, farmers’ faces are permeated with the joy of harvest. Big trucks across the country are waiting in front of Xiaoxi citrus trading center. Workers are busy in processing in the workshop, and automatic citrus production line imported from Spain can process 25 tons citrus per hour.
　　On October 15, the fourth Yichang Citrus Festival sponsored by the Xiaoxi Citrus Association will be held in Guanzhuang village. The citrus festival is to promote citrus sales, increase farmers\' income and construct the new countryside, cooperating with travelling merchants, the media and the experts to promote product sales, the brand, and the quality.
　　The autumn is the harvest season. There are seven theme activities in the opening ceremony of citrus festival: joint performance of programs, cooking competition, trade fair, microblog activities, shooting contest, country cycling and citizens leisure experience.
　　Yiling has thousands of year’s citrus planting history and culture due to advantageous geography, climate and other natural conditions. Yiling citrus are bright and clean, succulent and crisp, winning many awards in the national and provincial competitions. The products are exported to Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and America and other countries and regions. Shu Dehua, the Director of citrus festival organizer and Xiaoxi Citrus Association, said a series of activities showed the enterprise image of Yiling District and the development of citrus industry.
　　In recent years, Yiling District took various measures to create super citrus industry chain, create characteristic brands and achieve prosperity. At present, 60,000 farmers in the 125 villages of 10 are planting citrus, with a planting area of 223.33km2 and an annual output of 606,000 tons. Citrus industry has become the leading industry for the local farmers to get rich. This year, citrus output will reach 700,000 tons, an increase of 20%. As of Sept. 29, early-maturing citrus was sold out and the highest price is 2.60 RMB/kg, the average price of 1.50 RMB /kg and total sales of 70,000 tons. (Correspondent Zhang Guorong, Reporter Huang Shanguo)