Here's a factoid that explains a lot: Guangdong province, once known as Canton, is sometimes known as the Kingdom of Lychee. No wonder then, with all the Chinese immigrants who came here from Guangdong in the 19th century, that there are so many backyard lychee trees, and that lychee are among the fruit being cultivated as part of the tropical fruit farm renaissance here.

Lychee (LIE-chee, not lee-chee), has long been an object of interest, even devotion, in China. Just as the Japanese would gather to admire, discuss and write poems about cherry blossoms in season, lychee enthusiasts would come together during the Ming dynasty, in gardens and temple courtyards, to consume lychee and wax lyrical about the fruit's merits. In season, the fruit would be rushed on horseback from the orchards to the emperor's kitchens. One variety is even known as "the imperial concubine's laugh."

This month, Hawaii Island Retreat at Ahu Pohaku Ho'omaluhia, a sustainable wellness retreat on the north side of the Big Island, in Kapa'au near Hawi, is home to a contemporary version of those lychee-admiring sessions. The 35 trees in the 50-acre, eight-room luxury lodge's spacious orchard are burdened with a surplus of lychee, according to owner Jeanne Sunderland, so they decided to make lychee-ade out of lychee. So to speak. They plan a special event June 27 and you may be able to visit other June and July weekends to pick your own fruit (call 808-889-6336).

The retreat, which opened officially last spring after a long delay due to damage from the earthquake and various permitting slowdowns, takes a holistic approach to spa stays for its guests, with programs that feed the body, mind and spirit (organic food, spa treatments, yoga, exercise and dance classes, visualization, meditation, various therapies).

Feeding the body includes serving foods grown on the property, including avocado, banana, citrus, liliko'i, mango, langon pineapple and, of course, lychee.

Sunderland and her staff will serve the fruit at every meal (from salads to ice cream) during lychee season. They've researched the history of lychee, Sunderland said, and plan to share what they've learned in their public classes.

This includes the fact that lychee trees have a very long life span: Some in China are more than 1,000 years old.

Lychees are rich in vitamin C, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. Their sweetness comes from the high sugar content, about half of which is fructose and half glucose. They are best eaten fresh from the tree, as the sugars are fragile and lychee lose their flavor and unique fragrance quickly. This is one case where newer varieties are better, tending to bear larger and sweeter fruit.

Here are some ways lychee are served at the lodge: