Jianning Tongxin White Lotus

Jianning Tongxin White Lotus

Jianning Tongxin White Lotus is a protected geographical indication product.

Jianning Tongxin White Lotus is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　Region

　　Within the administrative area of Jianning County, Fujian Province, including ten townships (towns): Jinxi, Suicheng, Xikou, Lixin, Huangbu, Kefang, Huangfang, Xiyuan, Junkou, and Yijia

　　 Jianning Tongxin White Lotus, commonly known as Jian Lotus, has historically been hailed as the “finest lotus in the world.” It was listed as a tribute product through successive dynasties and was anciently referred to as “Tribute Lotus.”

　　 Jianning County is the origin of Jianning Tongxin White Lotus, with a long history of lotus cultivation. As early as the beginning of the Longde era of the Liang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties period (921 AD), there were already white lotus ponds in front of Baoguo Temple on Mount Jinrao.

　　 During the Qing Dynasty, Jianning Tongxin White Lotus became widely renowned, especially the lotus grown outside the West Gate, which was considered the finest. It has traditionally been a tribute lotus to the imperial court.

　　 According to Volume Three, “Pools and Wells,” of the Jianning County Annals from the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty: “Outside the West Gate, there are a hundred pools growing lotus, surrounded by peach and plum trees. In spring and summer when flowers bloom, visitors come in an endless stream. The annual yield of lotus seeds reaches a thousand jin, making it the finest in our country.” The literary masterpiece Dream of the Red Chamber also mentions Jianning Tongxin White Lotus multiple times.

　　 On the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Jian Lotus was once presented to Chairman Mao in Beijing. Chairman Mao gladly accepted it, and to this day, the Jianning County Revolutionary Memorial Hall still preserves the receipt issued by the General Office of the Central Committee. In 1984, during U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s visit to China, a dessert served at the state banquet was “Rock Sugar Jian Lotus.”

　　 In March 1995, Jianning County was named the “Hometown of Chinese Jian Lotus” by the first batch of China’s Special Products Hometowns Organizing Committee, led by the Ministry of Agriculture.