What is Erzincan Tulum and what does GI status mean?

Erzincan Tulum cheese, made with ewe’s milk and barrel-matured for at least four months in casings made of sheepskin or goatskin, is now officially described by the EU as having an off-white colour, crumbly texture and rich, salty flavour. Those characteristics are influenced, the EU agrees, by a range of local conditions, including the region’s climate, geography, and flora, as well as the know-how of locals who make it.

The GI designation gives the cheese legal protection across all EU member states, meaning only cheese made in specified areas using the right methods as per the registration documents and specifications can be called Erzincan Tulum.

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A wealth of unique Turkish products

Erzincan Tulum cheese is not the only Turkish product to have achieved GI status. A range of other goods, from baklava, honey, apricots, peaches and olives, to garlic, nuts, yoghurt, and coffee, all benefit from EU protections too.

“We congratulate Türkiye on the registration of Erzincan Tulum Cheese as the 32^nd Turkish product to receive Geographical Indication (GI) protection in the European Union,” the EU Delegation to Türkiye said on social media platform, X. “This recognition highlights the richness of Türkiye’s local and traditional products and strengthens the cultural and economic ties. We commend the efforts of all institutions and individuals involved in this achievement, including the Erzincan Chamber of Commerce and Industry,” the statement added.

Often served at breakfast, alongside olives, tomatoes, and fresh bread, Erzincan Tulum also pairs well with beetroot or grilled vegetables, such as peppers, and is also used in savoury Turkish pastries, like börek and pides.

Erzincan Tulum Cheese receives EU Geographical Indication!

We congratulate Türkiye on the registration of Erzincan Tulum Cheese as the 32nd Turkish product to receive Geographical Indication (GI) protection in the European Union.
pic.twitter.com/okZtZhCn8V

— AB Türkiye DelegasyonuEU Delegation to Türkiye (@EUDelegationTur) May 27, 2025

The benefits of GI status

The EU began looking at product protections like geographical indication back in 1992. The status is generally considered a positive for consumers and producers alike. It is powerful for brand-building and marketing and, although it can increase prices, buyers are often willing to pay more for the authenticity and quality associated with GI products. The label is also claimed to help preserve local cultural heritage and traditional production methods associated with the region concerned.

Famous GI products include champagne, which can only legally carry that name if it is produced in the Champagne region of northeast France. Other countries around the world, including China and India, also have their own systems for recognising the uniqueness of particular products from certain areas.

L’article Türkiye’s Erzincan Tulum cheese awarded EU geographical indication est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

1. Limburgese vlaai

Specific to the province of Limburg, extending over Belgium and the Netherlands, the registration of the pie describes it as an “abundantly filled baked sweet tart that is golden brown in colour and round in shape, with a rich variety of possible fillings and upper crust types that are both always baked together with the base”.

Limburgse Vlaai brings people together. It is a symbol of being together as a family on good and bad days. When we have something to celebrate or something to commiserate.

Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Food, told The Brussels Times

The Limburgese vlaai also has to be round, varying in diameter from 10 to 30 cm and weighing between 140 g up to 1.4 kg due to its abundant filling, which can vary between “fruit, rice pudding, custard, semolina pudding, quark, sugar/egg filling or a combination thereof”.

The dough of the pie is made with yeast and is somewhat similar to a sweet bread dough. A special kind of mastery is required to ensure that even after rising and baking, the thickness of the base is not more than 1 cm. The dessert is always topped off either with a closed top, called “dekselvlaai”, a lattice top, called “reepvlaai” or a crumble, called “kruimelvlaai”. The first two may be sprinkled with sugar before baking, but regardless of the type, everything has to be baked together and no additional decorations are to be made once the vlaai comes out of the oven.

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2. Origins

The exact origins of Limburgese vlaai are unknown, but there is a consensus that the pie was brought to the region, not invented locally. Some place its presence in Limburg as far back as the 12^th century, while one of the oldest proofs of the popularity of the dessert in the province is a painting of famed renaissance painters Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

“Proverbs”, from 1559, depicts pies on a house’s rooftop, symbolizing the Dutch proverb “Their roof is covered with pies”, meaning they are rich. The vlaai was initially only for holidays or special occasions like weddings or festivals. It was considered a luxury product, explaining the proverb and why someone with a lot of pies was rich.

By the 20^th century however, the popularity of the vlaai increased so much that bakeries started preparing it more regularly and became a regular Sunday treat rather than holiday only. Nowadays, bakeries prepare around 8 varieties of vlaai each day and up to 14 types during the weekend to fulfil each customer’s preferences.

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3. Protected Geographical Indication

The EU geographical indication system includes three categories – PDO – protected designation of origin (food and wine), PGI – protected geographical indication (food and wine) and GI – geographical indication (spirit drinks), all of which protect the names of products that originate from specific regions and have specific qualities or enjoy a reputation linked to the production territory.

PGI specifically emphasises the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. For most products, at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the region. In the case of wine, this means that at least 85% of the grapes used have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is actually made.

Examples of geographical indication protected products include: Kalamata olive oil (PDO), entirely produced in the region of Kalamata in Greece, using olive varieties from that area; Westfälischer Knochenschinken ham (PGI), produced in Westphalia using age-old techniques, but the meat used does not exclusively come from animals born and reared in that specific region of Germany; Irish Whiskey (GI), brewed, distilled and matured in Ireland since the 6^th century, but the raw materials do not exclusively come from Ireland; and, of course, Champagne (PDO).

L’article Limburg pie gets European geographic indication protection est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

1. History of the kiwi in China

The fruit had a Chinese name, yang tao, but in New Zealand it was informally called “Chinese Gooseberries” due to its sweet and tangy flavor. In 1959, the name was changed to kiwi, after New Zealand’s national bird.

The county of Meixian is known as the birthplace of Chinese kiwi. At the foot of Mount Taibai, Meixian has a profound history and rich culture as one of the cradles of Western Zhou culture, a famous place for ancestral bronze wares and hometown of Zhang Zai, founder of Official Studies in the Northern Song Dynasty. Meixian is in central Shaanxi.

A temperate climate and 2000 hours of sunshine per year contribute to the kiwi’s beautiful shape and attractive color. Pure mountain spring water and large day-night temperature difference create the perfect sour-sweet flavor. A kiwi contains 17 kinds of amino acids and 14 types of minerals. Its vitamin C is 20 to 100 times the amount in other fruits.

Local people took the lead picking the varieties most suitable for artificial cultivation from wild kiwis in 1978. For more than 40 years, over 20 varieties have been bred and introduced. The successfully-bred Xu Xiang kiwi as an advantage variety makes Meixian kiwi fruits famous nationwide.

Xu Xiang was first bred in a kiwi orchard in Xuzhou city, south China’s Jiangsu province, approved in 1990 and awarded for being an excellent variety in 1992 by the then China Kiwi Base. Later it has been introduced into many places in China.

2. Unique Chinese varieties

The kiwi industry has been driven by technologies. In 2006 Meixian and Northwest A&F University jointly established the first Chinese kiwifruit pilot station. 20-plus experts and professors stay here measuring with their footprints every inch of the land, keeping transforming scientific research results.

With a national kiwifruit wholesale market, Meixian has invested 2.8 billion yuan in building a comprehensive market of 1,098 mu (732,000 square meters) combining the technology R&D and exhibition, trade of fruits and fruit-related supplies, cold storage of fresh fruits, deep processing, logistics distribution and general management. A kiwi quality test center, an industry information center, an e-commerce industrial park and others have been built as Shaanxi-based international platforms producing and selling high-quality kiwi.

Over 40 years of R&D and cultivation, Meixian has won over 20 national honors and mutual recognition of geographical indications between China and Europe. The brand value reached 9.828 billion yuan. Relying on the local kiwi industry, around 10,000 poor households overcome poverty as part of industrial development.

The fruits are sold to 30-plus large and medium-sized cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and to 10 countries in Southeast Asia, North America and the Middle East. Riding on the tide of e-commerce, Meixian kiwi is going globally at a faster speed.

L’article Did you know that kiwis are originally from China? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

As early as 1958, Baoshan arabica Coffee was rated first-class in the British London market, and recognized as the best coffee of China at the National Coffee Conference in 1980, which was followed up with many honors granted to the product in national coffee events. In 1993, Baoshan arabica coffee fetched the Eureka Gold Award at the World Coffee Conference in Brussels. The coffee has become world famous for its unique quality and holds an important position in the global coffee market.

Baoshan arabica coffee beans are even in size. The coffee made from such beans with rich oil and fruit acid tastes thick but not bitter, fragrant but not strong, and mellow, giving the drinker a lasting pleasant aftertaste. The brewed coffee has a light jasmine, citrus and osmanthus fragrance, bringing the drinker a wonderful experience of its fresh and elegant aroma and an unforgettable taste, which shows it is indeed top-quality coffee.

Baoshan City has a unique dry and hot valley climate, very suitable for the growth of arabica coffee. Such natural conditions as the high altitude, low latitude, undulating terrain, good air quality, sufficient sunshine, large temperature difference between day and night, and no frost throughout the year make Baoshan become one of the world’s best areas for producing high-quality arabica coffee and give the Yunnan arabica coffee a unique flavor.

In recent years, Baoshan City has been focusing on industrial revitalization to consolidate and expand its achievements in combating poverty, and advancing rural revitalization in an all-round way. Today the Baoshan arabica coffee is taken as the pillar to support local people in increasing their income and becoming rich as the Coffee is going global, with its fragrance wafting around the world so that the people can enjoy the “Chinese taste”.

The China-EU Agreement on Geographical Indications officially entered into force on March 1, 2021. It is China’s first bilateral comprehensive and high-level agreement on the protection of geographical indications (GIs), and an important and practical outcome in the development of China-EU economic and trade relations in recent years.

L’article Did you know about China’s Baoshan arabica coffee? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

1. History

“A long, long time ago a Chinese emperor travelled to the south. On this journey he caught a cold and became very poorly. Someone handed him a plant, a country doctor most likely. The emperor took one of the leaves and sniffed at it and his cold disappeared. This is how the plant came to people’s attention. At the time, it was referred to as the nine-leaved-plant. Today it’s known as garlic”, a garlic farmer shared the tale of the plant’s discovery in a Britannica documentary.

In the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian brought back Hu garlic from his travels. The new variety was larger than the allium bakeri originally grown in China. The first type was called “xiao suan” in Chinese, meaning small garlic, therefore the new variety was named “da suan”, meaning big garlic.

With a higher yield, a bigger head and a better taste than the allium bakeri, Hu garlic made a quick expansion, as the production area grew from Yanzhou and reached Cangshan. “Li Xun, while acting as governor of Yanzhou Prefecture, shared all the wheat and Hu garlic harvested from his plantation with his subordinates”, recorded The History of the Dong Han.

2. Characteristics

The Cangshan garlic has a paper-thin white skin and a large bulb, holding between 4 and 6 cloves. The flesh is jade white, sticky and hot. It is described as fragrant, spicy, sticky and delicious and locals believe it has health benefits, especially for the stomach.

Cangshan Garlic enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad, while the Compendium of Materia Medica notes it is “indispensable for people in north China when they eat meat and noodles”. Cangshan residents generally eat it raw in their meals and during harvest season garlic sprouts, garlic seedlings and fresh garlic become the main ingredients in any household.

3. Production

The area in which the Cangshan garlic is produced naturally offers favourable conditions for growing the plant. The Lanling County is located in the warm, temperate, semi-humid area of the East China monsoon region. With a notable continental monsoon climate, the county has four distinct seasons including the hot rainy season during which the garlic thrives.

The soil in the region has a high content of organic matter, as well as high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which naturally fertilise the crops. Moreover, the wells in the area mostly contain alkalescent water, further benefitting the plant.

The favourable ecological environment, along with natural selection and artificial cultivation have led to the creation of the Cangsham Garlic variety, which is specific to Lanling County. In May 1999, the county was officially named the Home of Garlic in China, while the China-EU Agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs), officially entered into force on 1 March 2021, also recognises the variety’s uniqueness. This is China’s first bilateral, comprehensive and high-level agreement on the protection of GIs and has had an important and practical outcome in the development of the China-EU economic and trade relations in recent years.

The garlic production base now covers an area of 24,000 hectares, with an annual output of 320,000 tonnes. For over 20 years Cangshan garlic has been exported to Japan, South Korea, North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Besides raw, the garlic is also processed into dried garlic, garlic powder, garlic oil, sweetened garlic, canned garlic and even garlic beverages, among other foods and seasonings.

L’article Did you know of the Cangshan garlic variety? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Shanxi aged vinegar, heading the four famous vinegars in China, is made from high-quality sorghum, barley, peas and other grains through the process of steaming, fermenting, smoking, drenching and aging. Carrying forward the vinegar-making techniques developed since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the vinegar boasts a history of over 3,000 years, known as No. 1 Vinegar in the World and celebrated for its five characteristics: color, aroma, mellowness, full-bodiedness and acidity.

Since ancient times, Shanxi has been celebrated for producing premium vinegar, and the best vinegar in Shanxi is found in Qingxu. Among the aged vinegars, the best vinegar is from Qingxu County, which is located in the south of Taiyuan City nurtured by mountains and rivers. As legend goes, there was a jade spring in the southeast of the city of Emperor Yao, where Emperor Yao used to brew vinegar in person. At the Panama International Exposition in 1924, the Qingxu aged vinegar won the first prize of high-quality goods, thus becoming famous at home and abroad.

The unique five-step brewing process of Shanxi aged vinegar, “steaming, fermenting, smoking, drenching and aging” has resulted from constant development and improvement of traditional techniques, standing out as a splendid pearl among China’s intangible cultural heritages.

Academician Fang Xinfang, founder of the microbiology discipline in China, has authored the book Shanxi Vinegar, which expounds the reason for the fame of No. 1 Vinegar in the World. “The color and aroma of premium Shanxi vinegar are produced by chemical reactions of the vinegar per se due to long process of aging, instead of being added. So it deserves the reputation as a famous product in China,” wrote Fang Xinfang.

The Shanxi Plateau has strong sunshine and significant diurnal amplitude, and therefore the grains produced locally and used as raw materials of aged vinegar feature high contents of sugar and amino acids. On the other hand, on the Shanxi Plateau, the winter is cold and the summer sunshine is blazing The aging process of vinegar brewing, commonly known as exposure to the sun in summer and ice in winter, produces the better quality with the longer time, and brews the aged vinegar integrating the essence of grains. The history of Shanxi vinegar has gradually evolved into the development history of Shanxi aged vinegar. 

Vinegar is like wine, calling for premium water. The water used for Shanxi aged vinegar comes from the groundwater of the Mount Tianlong water system. Mount Tianlong, a branch of the Lvliang Mountains, is located 36 kilometers southwest of Taiyuan City, with an altitude of 1,700 meter. With a forest coverage rate of 70% and excellent springs and streams, the mountain offers high-quality water for brewing Shanxi vinegar. Different from Western people, who have been accustomed to fruit vinegar, Chinese ancestors mainly had vinegar fermented from grains, which contained more essential nutrients such as amino acids.

Shanxi aged vinegar is carmine red, rich in amino acids, organic acids, sugars, vitamins, etc. Integrating aromas from brewing, ingredients, ageing and ester, the vinegar is known among the folks as “Bottle-Penetrating Aroma”. With a delicious, fragrant, sweet, refreshing, and lingering taste of pure and mellow flavor, the vinegar is celebrated as an excellent product for health care and seasoning, featuring the effects of increasing appetite, stimulating digestion, eliminating fishy and greasy smell, decomposing fat, preventing diseases and strengthening the body. For Shanxi people fond of vinegar, the addition of a little vinegar enhances the taste of everything.

The China-EU Agreement on Geographical Indications officially entered into force on March 1, 2021. It is China’s first bilateral comprehensive and high-level agreement on the protection of geographical indications (GIs), and an important and practical outcome in the development of China-EU economic and trade relations in recent years.

L’article Did you know the secrets of the Shanxi Aged Vinegar? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

1. Fuzhou Jasmine Tea

Fuzhou, located off the southeast coast of China, is an estuary basin surrounded by mountains, featuring a warm climate, abundant precipitation, and high diurnal temperature amplitude, which offer suitable conditions for the growth of jasmines, and microclimates for tea growth. The unique basin landform, superior wetland ecology of the Minjiang estuary sandbanks, special land and climate as well as soil characteristics of the local areas have nourished jasmine tea with superior quality.

Jasmine, originally from the Persian Gulf, was introduced to China from India over two thousand years ago. Fuzhou, which boasts a long history of jasmine plantation, ranks top in China in terms of quantity and quality of this plant. Fuzhou is also the only Chinese city that honors jasmine as its city flower. The production of jasmine tea in Fuzhou, dating back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), has a history of more than 1000 years. The scenting technique of jasmine tea in Fuzhou gradually matured in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and culminated in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, jasmine tea from Fuzhou Tea Factory has been presented as a gift tea on diplomatic occasions.

Fuzhou jasmine features a unique fragrance. It is mainly planted on alluvial sandbanks on both sides of Minjiang River, where the soil is sandy. Additionally, the superior water quality of the Minjiang River renders a special fragrance to the jasmine flowers. Single-petal jasmine, which is specific to Fuzhou, stands out as the most fragrant variety, creating the uniquely fresh, mellow and lasting aroma, and developing a unique flavor known as“rock sugar flavor”.

Fuzhou jasmine tea scenting is celebrated as a unique technique, of which a prominent characteristic is “visible tea with invisible flowers”. Seven complicated scenting processes, namely even sieving, shaking, stepping, poking, baking, scenting, and enhancing, are required to achieve the effect that “tea absorbs flower aroma, and flowers enhances tea flavor”. The best Fuzhou jasmine tea requires nine times of scenting, with 81 repetitions of the process, strict control of the temperature and humidity of scenting, the timing of flower sobering, moisture and so on. The least bit of difference would lead to a great lapse in quality.

In 2011, the International Tea Committee awarded Fuzhou the title of “Home of Jasmine Tea”, and in 2012 the title of “World Famous Tea”. In May 2013, the Fuzhou Jasmine Planting and Tea Culture System was listed into the first list of important agricultural cultural heritages in China by the Ministry of Agriculture. On April 29, 2014, Fuzhou Jasmine and Tea Culture System was listed as an important global agricultural cultural heritage by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In the same year, the scenting process of jasmine tea in Fuzhou was entered into the fourth list of representative national intangible cultural heritages by the Ministry of Culture in China.

2. Fuding White Tea

Fuding in the northeast of Fujian Province is located off the coast of the East China Sea at the border between Fujian and Zhejiang. Fuding boasts a long history of tea production, with a thousand-year-old legend of treating children’s measles with white tea. Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty writes in The Tea Classic, “There is a white tea mountain 300 miles to Yongjia County.” According to expert research, the White Tea Mountain refers to Taimu Mountain in Fuding, Fujian. Fuding, known as the birthplace of white tea in China, is the largest white tea producing area and export base, with such a high reputation that people say that “world class white tea is found in China, and best white tea in China is from Fuding.”

Fuding White Tea, as a special kind of white tea, is a micro-fermented tea. It is so named because its finished product features fat buds covered with white hairs, white as silver and snow. Based on the difference of raw fresh leaves and the difference of production techniques, Fuding White Tea falls into several categories, such as Baihao Yinzhen (white hairs and silvery needles), Bai Mudan (white peonies), Gongmei (tribute eyebrows), Shoumei (longevity eyebrows), and white tea produced with new techniques. Fuding White Tea is highly recognized for its uniqueness, superior quality, natural processes, unparalleled effect and collectivity. 

The raw materials of white tea are high-quality sprouts of the first batch of national premium tea trees, Fuding White Tea including “Huacha No.1” (Fuding Great White Tea) and “Huacha No. 2” (Fuding Great Hairy Tea). The tea is processed through two procedures, withering and drying, excluding any action that might destroy the activity of enzymes such as kneading or stir-frying. As a result, the nutritional ingredients in tea are preserved to the greatest extent. Thus the most pristine and natural green tea beverage comes into being, with bright apricot color, and refreshingly sweet flavor.

There is a long history of foreign trade in Fuding White Tea, of which export started as early as 1891, and peaked in 1912-1916. In the 1980s, the tea market was opened up to the world. The main sales channel of Fuding White Tea returned to foreign trade, and this variety became the main category of exported tea from China. The white tea industry in Fuding has become a leading industry of rural revitalization, and plantation-based ecological management and information traceability systems have been developed, so that the origin and quality of tea can be traced from tea plantations to teacups.

In January 2010, Fuding White Tea won the honor of “China Famous Trademark”. In May 2011, Fuding White Tea processing was officially listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list. In June 2017, the Fuding White Tea Culture System was selected into the fourth batch of China’s important agricultural cultural heritages by the Ministry of Agriculture. In November 2020, Fuding White Tea was selected into the EU-China Landmark Geographical Indications Agreement, and became a major tea product exported to the EU.

3. Tanyang Kung Fu Tea

Fu’an in the northeast of Fujian, surrounded by mountains and the sea, featuring picturesque landscape and boasting the Baiyun Mountain Scenic Spot of the Ningde World Geopark, houses the largest settlement of the She ethnic minority in China, and is known as the birthplace of Tanyang Kung Fu Tea, place of origin of Chinese Kung Fu Black Tea, home of Chinese tea and center of black tea.

Fu’an has a long history of tea planting, making and producing, which can be traced back to the Sui Dynasty more than 1400 years ago. In the Tang Dynasty, people in every household drank tea, and tea competitions were frequently held in the Song Dynasty. In the fourth year of the Mingwu era (1371) of Ming, tea farmers in Fu’an discovered and utilized the local tea variety “Tanyangcai Tea”, which was distinguished by its wide adaptability and strong stress resistance.

In the first year of the Xianfeng era of Qing (1851), “Tanyang Kung Fu Tea” was successfully developed with “Tanyangcai Tea” as raw material, which became a main category of exported tea and was sold to Western Europe. Saiqi Port in Fu’an thus also became one of the world’s major “tea ports” then and the starting place of the “Maritime Sea Tea Road”. With surging demand for Chinese black tea surged in the international market from 1851 to 1875, Tanyang Kung Fu Tea rose to become one of the world famous teas, and in 1915 it won a gold medal from the Panama International Exposition.

Tanyang Kung Fu, a kind of black tea, is a fully fermented tea. It takes a lot of effort and time to process Tanyang Kung Fu Tea, with more than ten processes such as withering, twisting, fermentation and refining. Thanks to the great efforts, the finished tea product looks compact and even, with a shiny black color. The tea soup is bright and red, with a lofty and transcendental aroma, refreshing and full-bodied flavor, and soft, tender, red and resplendent leaf base.

In 2007, Tanyang Kung Fu Black Tea was listed as a product under protection as a National Geographical Indication. In 2008, it won the National Geographical Indication Certification Trademark. In 2015, it became the only designated tea for the China Pavilion in the Milan World Expo. In 2016, it stood out as the first tea brand promoted at the Fujian Provincial People’s Government’ tourist promotion conference held in New York, “A Cup of Tea, a House and a Road”. In 2021, the processing of Tanyang Kung Fu Black Tea was listed in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritages in China, and the brand value of Tanyang Kung Fu Tea amounted to 4.641 billion yuan, ranking top among all black tea brands in China.

L’article Did you know of these varieties of Chinese tea? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

1. The perfect habitat

Perfectly located between the warmer area of the country and the north subtropical zone, Xixia lies between humid and semi-humid areas. These temperatures and climate conditions make for the ideal habitat for natural foods to prosper, specifically mushrooms, and it is regarded as the best habitat for mushrooms by both domestic and foreign experts. The fragrant xianggu (shiitake) mushroom thrives here, and Xixia has become well known for it.

As a consequence, Xixia has formed a complete mushroom industry covering production, processing and sales, and has become the largest mushroom standardised production base, one of the largest export bases in China and an important distribution centre for edible mushrooms. More than 20,000 farmers and nearly 200,000 people in the county are engaged in the mushroom industry and 60% of the farmers’ per capita net income comes from this.

2. The perfect mushroom

In Xixia the mushrooms are especially unique because of their natural cracked pattern, rounded cap, thick flesh and tender and smooth texture. They also have a higher total polysaccharide content than similar products coming from other regions of China, making them the favourite among both domestic and foreign consumers. The special mushrooms are bought as food in themselves, or as fermented sauces, ingredients for other foods and health products, and are exported to more than 30 countries and regions around the world, including Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, the United Kingdom, Russia, Belarus, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and Southeast Asia.

3. A Chinese GI product

Xixia mushrooms have been evaluated as a “National Protected Geographical Indication Product” and “National Protected Product of Eco-origin”, as well as having been selected as one of the “Famous Brands of Chinese Eco-Origin Product in the 2013 Asian Brand Annual Conference.” The mushrooms were also selected as one of the first 100 Chinese GI products under the China-EU Geographical Indication Agreement, and have been honoured by China Edible Fungi Association as “The Best Chinese Mushroom”, “A Quality Mushroom of China”.

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