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From an online "weight-loss hack" to protective manicures: The humble bean that connects harvest, community and home in Shandong_我的网站

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    A farmer harvests green beans at a vegetable production base in Yantai, East China's Shandong Province, on August 21, 2024. Photo: VCGA viral internet joke about eating raw green beans for weight loss has recently put the humble vegetable in the spotlight. After news reports that a guy lost weight following food poisoning caused by undercooked beans, Chinese netizens jokingly dubbed them a "forbidden weight-loss hack." Others took the joke even further, asking — tongue firmly in cheek — exactly how undercooked the beans needed to be to achieve the "best weight loss effect."
For residents of East China's Shandong Province, however, green beans have never been a miracle diet food or an internet meme. Instead, they are an unmistakable sign that summer has arrived — and, for many families, the beginning of weeks of eating them, giving them away and wondering how on earth there are still more waiting to be picked.
The season of endless beans 
For Zhao Qian, a Shandong native, summer has always had a familiar color: green.
"When I was little, the moment different bean dishes started appearing on the table day after day, I knew summer had arrived," Zhao told the Global Times. "No matter how many we ate, there were always more. It was as if the vines kept producing beans overnight."
A Chinese saying goes, "Eating beans in summer is better than eating meat." Heat-loving green beans have been cultivated in China for more than one thousand years. Originally introduced from abroad, they gradually found a permanent place on Chinese dining tables thanks to their versatility, nutritional value and ability to fill hungry stomachs, according to an article published by People.cn.
Today, with the rise of greenhouse farming and an increasingly sophisticated cold-chain logistics network, fresh vegetables are available year-round across China. The old rule of eating produce only in season has largely given way to year-round abundance. Yet in Shandong, China's largest vegetable-producing province, green beans remain inseparable from summer. More than an endless seasonal harvest, they have become the taste of home for generations of locals.
One of Zhao's strongest childhood memories wasn't eating the beans, but preparing them. 
"Every summer, the adults would hand me a basin full of freshly picked beans and ask me to strip off the tough strings along both sides," she recalled. "I'd sit on a little stool and work through the whole pile. It looked like an easy job, but after peeling bean after bean, my fingertips would start to hurt. By the time I finished one basin, there was always another one waiting."
For many families in Shandong, summer means an endless cycle of picking, eating and sharing green beans. In vegetable gardens, rows of trellises are soon covered in climbing vines. When the peak harvest season arrives, the beans need to be picked almost every day before they become old and fibrous. Those that cannot be finished at home are packed into bags and given to relatives, neighbors and friends.
"Your family has beans, and so does mine, but we still give them to each other," Cao Yu, a Shandong native who grew up on the Jiaodong Peninsula in East China, told the Global Times on Wednesday with a laugh. 
A plentiful harvest also brings what locals jokingly call "bean freedom" to the dinner table. Sesame-dressed beans, braised beans with pork ribs and, above all, bean-filled steamed buns — a dish mentioned by almost every Shandong native interviewed by the Global Times. For many people, these dishes are no longer simply seasonal food, but the familiar taste of summer, family and hometown.
The hands that harvest summer 
Behind the seemingly endless harvest is another busy summer ritual — picking. For many elderly farmers, harvesting green beans means spending hours each day moving from one trellis to another, reaching through dense vines and picking bean after bean by hand.
A nail salon in Jining, Shandong Province, recently went viral after offering free "bean-picking manicures" to residents aged 60 and above. Instead of fashionable designs or glittering decorations, the salon applies thicker, longer nail extensions that make it easier to pinch and snap off the beans while protecting fingertips from pain. A coat of colored polish is added simply to help conceal stains left by vegetable sap, according to video clips circulating on Chinese social media platforms Douyin and Sina Weibo. 
The salon owner, herself the daughter of farmers, said thumb injuries and damaged fingernails are common during the bean-picking process. In videos posted on her Douyin account, many elderly women said the manicures made picking beans much easier. Even more amusingly, some older men initially refused to get a manicure, only to change their minds after hearing enthusiastic recommendations from the "grandmas' group."
For perhaps the first time, beauty took a back seat to practicality, and a manicure became another way of caring for hardworking hands.
While the internet continues to joke about undercooked beans as a shortcut to weight loss, doctors stress there is nothing amusing about eating them raw. Liang Jiajing, a clinical nutritionist at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, said raw or undercooked beans contain naturally occurring toxins that can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, but the toxins are destroyed through thorough cooking, according to a Jimu News report. 
The internet may remember green beans as the latest viral "weight-loss hack." In Shandong, however, they tell very different stories — one of overflowing harvests, bags of beans exchanged between neighbors, family recipes passed down through generations, and hardworking hands that quietly bring the harvest to the table. Long after the online jokes fade, the taste of summer — and of home — remains.
。         Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with President of the Republic of Ecuador Daniel Roy-Gilchrist Noboa Azín, who is on a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2026. Photo: XinhuaChinese President Xi Jinping held talks with President of the Republic of Ecuador Daniel Roy-Gilchrist Noboa Azín in Beijing on Tuesday, with the two leaders agreeing to further advance cooperation in multiple areas and exchanging views on the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 
The trip is Noboa's first state visit to China since taking office as Ecuador's President. It's also President Noboa's second visit to China following his initial trip in June 2025 for the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Northeast China's Dalian. 
After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation documents covering green industries, economic and trade cooperation, the digital economy and people's livelihoods, according to Xinhua. 
Consolidate new opportunities
During the meeting, President Xi urged China and Ecuador to strengthen the alignment of development strategies and implement the cooperation plan to jointly build the Belt and Road, according to Xinhua. 
The two sides should well implement cooperation projects in energy, minerals, infrastructure construction, finance and other fields, and actively explore cooperation in areas including the digital economy, green development, new energy and artificial intelligence, Xi said. 
The Ecuador President's official X account said in a post released on Tuesday that the important topics during the meeting include opening more markets for the country's products and expanding cooperation in technology, infrastructure, energy, and education. The account also depicted that the visit strengthens the ties between both countries and seeks to consolidate new opportunities for cooperation for Ecuador.
China-Ecuador cooperation has now evolved from individual projects into a more systematic and long-term partnership, where cooperation has shifted from scattered project-based cooperation toward a more institutionalized, normalized and long-term partnership, Pan Deng, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Region Law Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times on Friday. 
From the meeting, we can see bilateral cooperation is expanding beyond traditional fields such as mining, energy and infrastructure into emerging sectors including green development, renewable energy and artificial intelligence, Pan said. 
"This reflects China's willingness to share new technologies and help bridge the digital divide," the expert said, adding that it also demonstrates Ecuador's demand for new development opportunities as it seeks to upgrade its economic structure.
China has for consecutive years stood as Ecuador's second largest trading partner. Figures from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that the bilateral trade volume stood at $17.33 billion in 2025, marking a 24 percent year-on-year rise. For the January-April period of 2026, bilateral trade totaled $6.28 billion, representing nearly 20 percent year-on-year growth.
"The complementary nature of the two economies remains a key driver of cooperation, and it would play a role in any Latin American country that hopes to attract Chinese investment to improve their economic structures and upgrade infrastructure," Zhou Zhiwei, an expert on Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
"The foundation of cooperation is very solid," Zhou said, noting that China-Latin America relations have expanded beyond economic and financial areas and developed into broader political trust.
China acts as the 'certainty'
Beyond practical cooperation, the two heads of state also exchanged views on the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Xi said China supports Latin American countries in upholding independence and self-reliance, pursuing foreign cooperation based on their national interests, and safeguarding regional peace and stability, according to Xinhua. 
He stressed that China has always maintained that the status of the Latin American and Caribbean region as a zone of peace should not be shaken, the course of development and revitalization of Latin American and Caribbean countries should not be disrupted, and the right of Latin American and Caribbean countries to independently choose their cooperation partners should not be interfered with.
Against the backdrop of rising regional uncertainties, including hegemonism, trade protectionism, and even localized military conflicts, China is increasingly viewed by Global South countries through a broader lens beyond economic cooperation, Zhou said.  
"Actions speak louder than words," Zhou said. "China plays the role of 'certainty' through a win-win approach, which is why more and more Global South countries are turning to China and upgrading cooperation."
Noboa's visit reflects a broader trend among Global South countries seeking more diverse cooperation opportunities, said Pan. 
Facing structural constraints in its development, Ecuador has not tied its external relations to a single outside force, but instead has pursued a balanced foreign policy by expanding cooperation with different partners according to its own national interests, he added. 
For many countries in the Global South, Pan noted, Ecuador's experience provides a practical path: countries do not need to abandon existing economic ties while expanding cooperation with new partners. Instead, by diversifying markets and cooperation channels, they can strengthen economic resilience and reduce risks brought by external uncertainties.
The growing interaction between China and Ecuador comes amid increasing exchanges between China and other Global South countries.
Since the beginning of this year, senior officials and leaders from a number of Latin American countries, including Uruguay and Chile, have strengthened high-level exchanges with China. Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna is scheduled to pay an official visit to China from August 18 to 22.
"For Beijing, hosting Orsi... signals that South American countries remain eager to engage, despite the increasingly polarized geopolitical environment," a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile was quoted by Reuters as saying during Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi's visit to China in February.
In the energy sector, Chile has expressed interest in learning from China's experience in clean energy development, improving relevant policies and attracting more Chinese investment in renewable energy. 
As emerging economies seek more stable development opportunities in a changing global landscape, the China-Ecuador relationship has become one example of how Global South countries are expanding partnerships based on mutual interests, diversified cooperation and shared development goals, Zhou said. 
The increasing tempo of visits by Latin American leaders and senior officials demonstrates that practical cooperation between the two sides remains resilient despite changes in the external environment, Chinese analysts stressed. 
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