Xinchang Chestnuts

Xinchang Chestnuts

　　Xinchang chestnuts are large, delicious, sweet, glutinous, and crispy. They are rich in nutrients such as starch, fat, protein, as well as various vitamins and inorganic salts. The medicinal value of chestnuts is listed as top-grade in the ancient medical text *The Names and Records of Famous Physicians*, which cites their benefits for “boosting qi,” “nourishing kidney qi,” “treating weakness in the waist and legs,” as well as healing “broken bones and tendons” and “swollen, painful bruises and blood stasis.” “Xinchang candied chestnuts” have a long history and enjoy a high reputation in surrounding counties and cities. After rapid development over just a few years, Xinchang has become a major chestnut-producing county in Zhejiang Province, with cultivation area reaching 100,000 mu and a total output of 3 million kilograms in 1998. Chestnuts have become a leading industry in Xinchang’s agricultural industrialization.

　　Xinchang has a history of chestnut production of at least 2,000 years and is currently one of the main chestnut-producing counties in Zhejiang Province.

　　Xinchang chestnuts are renowned for their large size, bright color, and sweet, glutinous, and crispy texture. They are rich in nutrients such as starch, fat, protein, as well as various vitamins and inorganic salts, and have been rated as one of the best chestnut varieties. Locally in Xinchang, “candied chestnuts” are especially flavorful.