Xinfeng Ginger

Xinfeng Ginger

Xinfeng Ginger is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　　The Xinfang brand ginger from Xinfeng Town, Nanhu District, has a long cultivation history, dating back to the Ming Dynasty over 300 years ago. In recent years, the planting area has stabilized at around 3,000 mu. The annual ginger output ranges from 3,000 to 4,000 tons, which is sold to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions, making it a traditional product of Jiaxing.

　　 　　Xinfeng ginger is known for its high spiciness, fibrous texture, and good storage capability, making it a highly versatile product. Young ginger is crisp, tender, and flavorful, while mature ginger is firm, spicy, and aromatic, serving as a common seasoning in daily life. When cooking fish and shrimp, adding fresh ginger not only enhances the flavor but also helps remove the fishy taste. Additionally, young ginger can be processed into small purple ginger packages, sugar syrup ginger, dried ginger, ginger powder drinks, and salted or sugared side products. Ginger also has medicinal properties; it is warm in nature and spicy in taste, acting on the lung, spleen, and stomach meridians. It is effective in dispelling cold, inducing perspiration, relieving nausea, expelling wind, and resolving phlegm.

　　Geographical Scope

　　　 The annual ginger output ranges from 3,000 to 4,000 tons, which is sold to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai regions, making it a traditional product of Jiaxing.

　　Unique Qualities

　　　　　　Xinfeng ginger is known for its high spiciness, fibrous texture, and good storage capability, making it a highly versatile product. Young ginger is crisp, tender, and flavorful, while mature ginger is firm, spicy, and aromatic, serving as a common seasoning in daily life. When cooking fish and shrimp, adding fresh ginger not only enhances the flavor but also helps remove the fishy taste.

　　Cultural Stories

　　　　The Xinfang brand ginger from Xinfeng Town, Nanhu District, has a long cultivation history, dating back to the Ming Dynasty over 300 years ago. In recent years, the planting area has stabilized at around 3,000 mu.

　　Ginger is a traditional specialty of Xinfeng Town, Jiaxing. In the past, it was one of the main sources of income for the locals, so great care was taken during cultivation, gradually forming unique production customs.

　　Before Guyu (Grain Rain), when the ginger is harvested, farmers immediately perform the “Spring Corner” ritual—placing a sprouting stove in the corner of the house and lighting a fire twice a day, morning and evening, to heat the stove and encourage the ginger to sprout. Hot smoke is used to maintain warmth and humidity, ensuring the environment inside the stove “has temperature but no open flame.” After about twenty days, the fire is stopped to allow excess moisture in the ginger to evaporate. This process not only kills germs but also aids sprouting. Folklore says it drives away the “stagnant energy.”

　　After sprouting, the ginger is sorted by size and the number of sprouts in a process called “breaking apart,” believed to bring good luck. Once sorted, it's ready for planting. Farmers avoid saying “ginger” (姜) because it sounds like “stiff” or “numb” (僵), so they call it “spicy goods.” My father would also plant a few scallions in the edges of the ginger field, hoping to “ward off negative energy” (无冲). By early June, when the ginger shoots are four or five inches tall, farmers build a flat bamboo frame about one meter high in the fields and cover it with a layer of wheat straw to allow filtered light under the shelter. To prevent the shelter from being blown away by the wind, an old toilet lid or broken chamber pot is placed at the southeast corner of the roof—believed to scare off tornadoes.

　　The most labor-intensive task in the ginger fields is “digging ginger ditches.” After the Great Heat solar term, farmers dig the ditches to ensure smooth drainage, making them deeper, clearing out loose mud, and leveling the ridges. Back then, my father often helped other ginger farmers with this job, which was tough work and thus better paid. There was an old saying in Xinfeng: “Five drinks, three meals, four-six-eight,” referring to ginger farmers drinking five times a day, eating three meals, with three dishes in the morning, six at noon, and eight in the evening, all while earning double wages.

　　When the ginger plant has grown four or five leaves, digging up the mother rhizome is called “stealing mother ginger.” Mother ginger is very spicy and excels at removing fishy and gamey odors. People often say, “Three pounds of green ginger can’t compare to one pound of mother ginger,” referring to its strong potency.

　　Regardless of bumper or lean harvests, Xinfeng ginger farmers always set aside part of their crop as seed ginger. Seed ginger must be stored in cellars promptly. Often, several households share a single cellar. Before storing, a “She Society” ceremony is held to thank the earth god and pray for the safe overwintering of the seed ginger. When spring arrives, the stored ginger is taken out, and farmers begin the cycle again with the “Spring Corner” ritual.