Every part of the coconut is useful. The rock-hard shell will never warp in hot and cold temperatures, and it can be processed for fibers, activated carbon, or even to make musical instruments. The copra can be carved as well as used to produce oil. Wood from the long trunks is a popular material for furniture or construction. Leaves are used for fuel and to create baskets and other crafts. The milk can become coconut wine or candy, and although coconut oil is used primarily for industrial purposes, it’s also used in soap and toothpaste.

Many may not be aware of the possible uses for coconut milk, but hospitable Wenchang locals will be happy to demonstrate its importance. First, it is used to judge a stored coconut’s age. The longer a coconut is stored, the more milk it will lose. Secondly, they know how to extract milk from the meat. The meat is mashed in hot water before being filtered with gauze, and after some heating, drinkable milk remains. Culinary enthusiasts find it useful as flavoring for soup or to make juice.

Two men were working at a pond in the coconut grove covered with a layer of floating brown coconut fibers. One of them explained that the fibers from coconut shells can be sold as raw materials to be used by mattress factories. Coconut fibers are also used to make cushions, mats, brooms, brushes, ropes, and other such items. Washable, breathable, and durable, the coconut fiber is a useful nontoxic natural material.

Mattresses are divided into those composed of “hard fiber” and “soft fiber.” Before the technological age, factories primarily produced the hard fiber variety. The process first requires sifting fibers through wire nettings, then bending them into a three-dimensional network with machines, and finally grinding them into a certain shape with natural latex. The soft, or “flexible,” fiber requires more processing, such as a newer three-dimensional networking technique that produces soundless springs of natural fiber. Featuring thousands of airholes per square meter, the breathable mattresses don’t deteriorate in moist air. Although pricier, natural breathable mattresses stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer, making them more desirable than synthetic beds.

A favorite local meal in a Wenchang restaurant is “coconut with sticky rice,” which features steamed sticky rice mixed with coconut meat and milk, diced ham, and squid. Visitors rarely forget the sweet smell of the moment the coconut is opened right at the table.