Requires a sunny position, succeeding in any reasonably good soil that is well-drained but not dry. Trees are very hardy when grown in a continental climate with long hot summers but in the cooler climate of Britain where they do not always ripen their wood they are only reliably hardy to about -5°c. They grow well on a south-facing wall and this is the only way to ensure that they fruit well in Britain. A plant growing in a sunny position on the south side of tree cover at Kew was 3.5 metres tall in spring 1995 and looked healthy. Occasionally cultivated, especially in China, for its edible fruit, there are some named varieties. There is a disagreement over the correct name for this species, with some authorities using Pseudocydonia sinensis and others Chaenomeles sinensis. Flowers are produced on year-old wood.

Fruit - eaten as a sweetmeat, candied, preserved in syrup or made into a liqueur. The juice can also be mixed with ginger and made into a beverage. The fruit is very large, up to 18cm long.

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in the autumn. Stored seed requires 3 months cold stratification and should be sown as early in the year as possible. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Layering.

Found at elevations around 1000 metres in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and Zhejiang Provinces.