Guangzong Purple Dates

Guangzong Purple Dates

　　Guangzong Purple Dates are a specialty of Guangzong County in Xingtai City, Hebei Province. The large purple jujubes from Guangzong are beloved for their superior qualities—large size, thick flesh, small pits, and high sugar content—and were selected as one of the recommended fruits for the fourth Beijing Olympic Games.

　　The Guangzong jujube gets its name from its purple skin and is considered top-grade for medicinal use. It has a unique flavor. When dried, the fruit remains purple and wrinkled, and does not dry out completely. It has thick flesh and small pits. The largest ones are described as “eight to a foot, nine to a pound.” Jujubes hold high practical value in Traditional Chinese Medicine. According to *Compendium of Materia Medica*, jujubes can replenish qi and nourish blood, invigorate the spleen and stimulate appetite, strengthen vitality, nourish yin and moisten dryness, calm the nerves and nourish kidneys, beautify the skin and combat aging, and regulate the twelve meridians. They provide powerful nourishment, help eliminate drug toxicity, neutralize various medicines, tonify the five internal organs, treat fatigue, and serve as an indispensable medicinal guide. They are a sacred item for both medicinal and dietary therapy, as well as an excellent choice for health and beauty. Guangzong County’s jujubes were exported to Japan, Hong Kong, and other Southeast Asian countries as early as 1980 at $30 per kilogram. The product was in high demand and especially favored by women. Among the Chinese community, there’s a saying: “Seven dates a day keep aging away.” The large purple jujube has gradually gained recognition among consumers for its unique qualities.

　　Guangzong County has a history of cultivating jujube trees for thousands of years. The famous Chinese emperor “Qin Shi Huang” loved to eat Guangzong Purple Dates the most. Historical records state that when Qin Shi Huang returned to his hometown of Handan to pay respects to his ancestors, he caught a cold on the way past Mount Tai. Even while seriously ill, the emperor didn’t forget about the jujubes. He specifically traveled to Guangzong County, ate the jujubes, and felt revitalized the same day. His complexion turned rosy, and his cough subsided. Eating only 30 jujubes a day and no medicine, a miracle occurred—his life was extended by several dozen days. Unfortunately, after a coup, Qin Shi Huang died in Shaqiu Terrace, Guangzong County. The large purple jujube thus earned its name.

　　Guangzong is located in the southern part of Hebei Province, China, and features a unique geography with sandy loam soil and significant diurnal temperature variation. Experiments have shown that the same variety of purple jujubes planted in Xinjiang, Shandong, Shanxi, and other regions do not match the nutritional content of those grown in Guangzong. This proves that only on Guangzong’s sandy wasteland can authentic purple jujube quality be produced. The nutritional components and health benefits of Guangzong jujubes are exceptionally high.

　　After the establishment of the Susda Jujube Industry Professional Cooperative in Guangzong County, with guidance from experts at Hebei Agricultural University and by making full use of the region’s unique natural conditions, the cooperative carried out multiple improvements and cultivations of the purple jujube tree, which is highly resistant to waterlogging and drought, cold and freezing, and has strong windbreak and sand-fixing capabilities. More than ten new varieties have been successfully bred, leading to the current uniquely characteristic “Guangzong Purple Pearl” jujube. The “Guangzong Purple Pearl” undergoes cleaning and disinfection, double drying, laboratory testing, sorting, and packaging, resulting in large size, thick flesh, high fructose content, and high medicinal value. It has been certified as a green food by relevant national authorities.　　

　　After the “Purple Pearl” jujubes were sold at sky-high prices at the Beijing New World Plaza Club, they were completely booked out by merchants from Shanghai Hualian Group and other buyers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and elsewhere. In market years with good prospects, select large jujubes sell for over 400 yuan per jin, while regular-sized jujubes sell for more than 20 yuan per jin in ordinary markets. With an average yield of 1 ton of dried jujubes per mu, that amounts to over 40,000 yuan. Under the leadership of the jujube industry cooperative, farmers in two cities and six counties have greatly increased their enthusiasm for scientific jujube cultivation. The planting area rapidly expanded from 1,000 mu before the cooperative was established to 8,000 mu. The county alone has over 3,000 mu of Purple Pearl jujube plantings, generating an annual output value of 20 million yuan. The cooperative itself has an annual output value exceeding 20 million yuan. The Purple Pearl jujube has become the “wealth-building jujube” for Guangzong farmers to increase income and prosperity. The cooperative has also been awarded the title of National Model Cooperative.