Luoning cherries are a specialty of Dongsong Town in Luoning County, Luoyang City, Henan Province. Known as the "first fruit of early spring," cherries have been introduced and cultivated in Luoning County in recent years. The county now has over 2,000 acres of cherry orchards, mainly distributed in Guanzhuang Village in Dongsong Town, as well as in suburban areas and towns such as Dizhang. Nestled deep in the mountains, Dongsong Town has three villages that have developed large-scale...
Luoning was historically known as Xiaodi. In the first year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty (618 AD), it was renamed Yongning, and in the second year of the Republic of China (1912 AD), it became Luoning, the name it retains to this day. Located in the mountainous region of western Henan and the middle and upper reaches of the Luo River, Luoning belongs to Luoyang City, one of China’s ancient capitals with thirteen dynasties. Its natural features are characterized by “seven parts mountains, two parts tablelands, and one part plains.” Luoning is among the earliest regions inhabited and where civilization emerged in the Chinese nation. Historical sites such as the Cangjie Character Creation Platform and the Luoshu Origin Stele showcase its long history, while the Yangshao and Longtou cultural ruins highlight its profound heritage. With its ancient and splendid culture, as well as rich and beautiful natural scenery, this land is a shining pearl nestled in the mountainous region of western Henan. Pears are native to China, with a cultivation history of over 2,500 years. The Yongning County Annals from the 55th year of the Qianlong reign in the Qing Dynasty (1790 AD) documented 14 types of fruits including pears and peaches. The Luoning County Annals from the 6th year of the Republic of China (1917 AD), under the section “Volume 2: Local Products – Fruits,” recorded that “pears are divided into summer pears, autumn pears, and sand pears.” The Golden Pearl Pear is an outstanding variety selected from wild sand pears. It has been cultivated sporadically around homes in the mountainous areas of Luoning for a long time. Due to its beautiful appearance, excellent quality, unique flavor, and notable health benefits, it is referred to by locals as the “King of Sand Pears.” Also called the Sand Pear King, the Golden Pearl Pear is named for its golden-yellow, translucent color and shape resembling a mango or a waist drum. Coupled with its unique health benefits, it is hailed as a treasure among pears. The Golden Pearl Pear boasts a distinctive fruit shape and vibrant, eye-catching color. The fruit is oblong-oval, symmetrical and attractive in appearance. The base color of the skin is golden yellow with orange-red hues. The fruit size is moderate, averaging between 160 to 200 grams per piece, with the largest reaching up to 300 grams. It has a uniquely pleasant flavor, being sweet and slightly acidic with a rich taste and the distinct fragrance characteristic of wild sand pears. The fruit ripens from late October to early November, making it extremely late-maturing. It is highly resistant to storage and can be kept in indoor boxes until the end of April the following year. Luoning Golden Pearl Pears are renowned for their superior quality. Not only do they have a beautiful appearance and unique flavor, but they are also rich in nutrition and offer notable medicinal and health benefits. According to generational validation and oral tradition, the Golden Pearl Pear significantly helps clear phlegm, relieve coughs, moisten the lungs, cool the heart, clear heat and toxins, and regulate qi flow in the chest. Testing by the Agricultural Product Quality Supervision and Testing Center of the Ministry of Agriculture revealed that the soluble solids content in the fruit reaches 13.5%, with total soluble sugars at 8.28%, Vitamin C at 9.58 mg/100g, Vitamin B6 at 0.096 mg/100g, and containing 18 types of amino acids, calcium at 67.5 mg/kg, and magnesium at 54.7 mg/kg. The unique quality of Luoning Golden Pearl Pears is determined by the local climate, water quality, and soil conditions. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and extending over a hundred li, Luoning enjoys the shelter of the Funiu Mountains, resulting in a cool and pleasant climate all year round. The altitude ranges from 276 meters to 2,103.2 meters. The terrain can be divided into four types: deep mountainous areas, shallow mountainous areas, tableland and hilly areas, and valley areas. The tableland and shallow mountainous areas are the key regions for fruit tree development. The soil pH ranges from 7.2 to 7.8, with deep layers, fertile texture, organic matter content between 1% and 2.5%, and high levels of trace elements—making it highly suitable for the growth of Golden Pearl Pears. Luoning County has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with very few catastrophic winds, abundant sunshine year-round, distinct seasons, and a growing season from April to October with high sunlight rates. Surface water resources are abundant, and water quality is good, fully meeting the requirements for pollution-free food production. Annual precipitation is 551.9 mm, with the rainy season mainly occurring from June to August, accounting for 51% of the annual total. The coincidence of rain and heat is beneficial for the transfer and transformation of soil nutrients to plants, the synthesis and decomposition of organic matter, improving the utilization efficiency of water and heat resources, and is very conducive to the production of Golden Pearl Pears. These exceptional natural conditions have created the unique and superior quality of Luoning Golden Pearl Pears. To develop and expand this historic specialty, the Luoning Golden Pearl Pear Association takes on the mission of “establishing a brand for Luoning specialties, implementing geographical indication protection, creating green food excellence, and improving agricultural benefits.” This effort has led to the development of a 10,000-mu (approximately 667 hectares) high-quality Golden Pearl Pear production base, forming a management model of “association + base + farmers.” The association adopts a “five unifications” management approach: unified supply of premium varieties, unified production technical standards, unified technical guidance, unified recovery and processing, and unified fruit packaging. Through source control, it ensures fruit quality. Thanks to the development and protection efforts of the Luoning Golden Pearl Pear Association, the Golden Pearl Pear is winning increasing trust and praise from customers with its excellent quality and exquisite packaging. It has successively received certifications such as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Pollution-Free Agricultural Product Certification, “National Excellent Fruit Industry Product,” and “National Advanced Unit for Science Popularization Benefiting Agriculture and Revitalizing Villages.” In 2012, the “Golden Pearl Pear” was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture as a National Agricultural Product Geographical Indication Protected Product. With the expansion of Golden Pearl Pear cultivation and the comprehensive implementation of standardized agricultural production, the Golden Pearl Pear will bring increasingly substantial economic benefits to more farmers and make greater contributions to the construction of new rural areas.
Shangge Town is located in the northwest of Luoning County and is the main apple-producing area in the county. The region boasts fertile soil, abundant sunlight, and significant diurnal temperature variations. With its lush green mountains and pristine environment, the natural and ecological conditions are highly conducive to apple cultivation. The apples produced here, such as Red Fuji and Xin Hongxing, are large, well-shaped, brightly colored, and have fine-textured...
Luoning Steamed Meat has a long history. It is made by mixing pork slices, scallions, glass noodles, soybean paste, seasonings, and flour, then steaming the mixture in a basket. It is both a festive delicacy and a great dish to serve guests. The meat is fragrant yet not greasy, leaving a lingering aftertaste. Mostly homemade, it is one of the local specialties of Luoning and even western Henan. (The most famous version is from "Hannian Liu" at Donghuatan in Luoning County, priced at just 9 yuan per jin—great quality at a low price.)
For visitors to Luoning, not trying the local delicacy of braised pork stuffed in Guokui bread is truly a pity. The braised pork is made by simmering pork in an iron pot with a variety of seasonings until it turns brown and aromatic. Guokui is a round flatbread, about half an inch thick, made from fermented dough brushed with oil, layered with salt, chopped scallions, and other ingredients, then pressed and rolled out. It is cooked in an iron pot lined with small stones at the bottom...
The Luoyang Water Banquet, popular in the Luoyang area of Henan Province, is a highlight of traditional Henan banquets. Many of its well-known dishes are highly sought after by food enthusiasts, such as Peony Swallow Dish, Sliced Meat in Continuous Soup, Luoyang Sea Cucumber, and, of course, today’s featured dish — Deep-fried Meatballs. The main ingredient used in making Deep-fried Meatballs is...
Peony-style Fake Bird's Nest, also known as Fake Bird's Nest, primarily uses large white radishes produced in Dongguan, Luoyang. Through several refined processes, the shape, texture, and color of these radishes resemble those of real bird’s nest. Peony-style Fake Bird's Nest is the first main dish in the Luoyang Water Banquet.
Rice Pulp Clear Soup: It is an improved and extended version of fermented noodle soup. Based on the traditional method of making fermented noodle soup, an additional step is added, increasing the technical difficulty. While retaining the original flavor, it has even more distinctive characteristics. Due to its relatively complex process and the difficulty in mastering the technique, in the past only skilled chefs or those particularly fond of fermented noodle soup could make authentic Rice Pulp Clear Soup. Although this snack is quite common and widespread, many people would often seek out highly skilled cooks just to satisfy their craving for it.
Thick & Hearty Noodles: A local specialty snack from Luoyang. It was once a staple in the daily lives of ordinary households in Luoyang and remains beloved by many. Ingredients include: noodles, cornmeal, white radish, carrot, sesame leaves, fried tofu, shredded meat (pork or beef), five-spice powder, chopped scallions, sesame oil, boiled soybeans, salt, and MSG...
Luoning County has a long history of cultivating Phyllostachys glauca, earning it the reputation of being a “Bamboo Town.” The county boasts over 6,000 acres of bamboo forests, with a total bamboo timber stock of more than 30 million kilograms. Luoning’s Phyllostachys glauca features long internodes, thin walls, flexibility, elasticity, and high tensile strength, making it premium material for bamboo weaving. Luoning bamboo weaving enjoys nationwide fame. Its main products—bamboo boards,…
Served in a small-basin-like coarse ceramic bowl, the richly aromatic broth, thick yet tender hand-pulled noodles, a small handful of fragrant fresh coriander, a chopstick’s worth of fried chili peppers—just stir it all together, and the aroma is incredible... Originally, lamb and beef are specialties of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, while hand-pulled noodles are a specialty of Shaanxi. Thanks to the Luoning people who blended and refined these elements, they became a signature dish of Luoning. Many locals from...
Visitors to Luoning who miss out on the local delicacy of braised pork sandwiched in baked flatbread are truly missing out. The braised pork is made by simmering pork in an iron pot seasoned with a variety of spices, resulting in a rich brown color and fragrant taste. The baked flatbread is made by brushing fermented dough with oil, layering it with salt, chopped scallions, and other ingredients, then rolling it into a half-inch-thick round cake. It is placed in an iron pot lined with small stones, and the bottom...
Fermented noodle soup is a popular local delicacy among the people of Luoning. It is made by fermenting soy milk at an appropriate temperature until it turns sour, then heating it in a pot to about 80 degrees Celsius. At this point, a mushroom-like layer of fermented scum forms on the surface. A small amount of sesame oil is added and stirred repeatedly. Once it comes to a boil, noodles—preferably mixed grain noodles—are added. The mixture is stirred into a thick porridge-like consistency. Then, prepared seasonings such as salt, chopped scallions, green peas, celery, leeks, and chili are added. Fermented noodle soup is simple to make, low-cost, delicious, and easy to digest. For these reasons, it has endured since ancient times and has become a renowned local dish with strong regional character.
The first meal of the Lunar New Year for people in Luoning is Liangfen Dumplings. Legend has it that dumplings used to be in short supply, so liangfen (a cold noodle-like dish) was added to increase the portion size. It has now become a uniquely flavored local snack in Luoning. There are two types of liangfen: clear liangfen and yellow liangfen. Clear liangfen is made from starch, while yellow liangfen is made from millet flour. In the Liangfen Dumpling soup, besides the dumplings themselves,…
The river clam, also known as he wai, river mussel, or bird shell, among other names. There is quite some technique involved in cooking stewed river clam with tofu. If not cooked properly, the texture can turn out too tough and chewy; if undercooked, since river clam meat is considered a cooling food, it may easily cause diarrhea after eating. Here, when we cook river clams, we always start by placing pieces of clam meat on the cutting board...
Luoning bamboo hats were first created during the Qing Dynasty and became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Villages such as Wuxi, Chensong, and Wangxie are major production centers, manufacturing over a million hats annually, which are sold to provinces including Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hubei, and Sichuan. The hats come in large, medium, and small sizes, and each size is further divided into versions with or without eyelets. They fit securely, stay put even when cycling against the wind, provide sun protection and ventilation…
Luoning Bamboo Plywood is a newly developed bamboo utilization technique in recent years. Currently, only a few manufacturers across the country produce it. Made from bamboo materials, the process involves splitting the bamboo into strips, weaving them into mats, and then pressing them under high temperature and pressure using urea-formaldehyde resin as an adhesive. The product is heat-resistant, waterproof, anti-aging, insect-proof, and resistant to microbial…
Luoning County is rich in light bamboo, known for its large size and high quality, earning it the reputation as the "Hometown of Green Bamboo." Luoning's light bamboo has a long history and is renowned nationwide. According to the *Luoning County Annals* from the sixth year of the Republic of China (1917), during the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were legends of "clear and beautiful mountains and rivers, and lush bamboo forests." Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi and Song Dynasty scholar Shao Kangjie were drawn to the serene beauty of Yongning’s landscapes and bamboo groves...
Luoning boasts favorable ecological conditions for producing high-quality tobacco leaves. Tobacco cultivation began here in 1978, and in 1981, the area was designated by the State Council as the most suitable region for tobacco growing. Of the county’s 1.3 million mu of arable land, 600,000 mu are suitable for premium tobacco, with elevations ranging between 600–800 meters and soils rich in potassium but low in chlorine. The average annual precipitation…
The county has over 500 acres of grapevines, with main varieties including Red Globe, Black Corinth, and Beauty Finger. These are primarily grown in Chengjiao Township and Xinghua Town, yielding an annual production of 500,000 kilograms and a total output value of 1.2 million yuan.…