Botou Crisp Pear

Botou Crisp Pear

The Botou Crisp Pear is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　The Botou Crisp Pear has a long planting history and benefits from superior natural conditions. It is world-renowned for its large size, thin skin, juicy flesh, beautiful shape, and high sugar content. In 1995, it was awarded the national Green Food Certificate. Currently, the city's fruit orchard area has reached 600,000 mu, with an annual production of 200 million kilograms of crisp pears and 20 million kilograms of jujubes. The export volume of crisp pears reaches 30 million kilograms, accounting for one-third of Hebei Province's total crisp pear exports. Both the production and export volume of Botou Crisp Pears rank first among all counties and cities in China. The "Zhonghua Yali" variety, cultivated using new fruit tree technologies, can rival Japan’s "Crystal Pear" and is highly popular with customers both at home and abroad, being sold in more than 10 countries and regions including Canada, the United States, Singapore, and the Philippines. The crisp pear has a long planting history and benefits from superior natural conditions. The Botou Crisp Pear has been listed as a top-grade pear in the "China Fruit Tree Chronicles" and has won awards in multiple national high-quality fruit evaluations.

　　The cultivation history of the Botou Crisp Pear dates back to the Western Han Dynasty, with over 2,000 years of history. There are numerous varieties of pears in the region, totaling over a hundred types, among which the crisp pear is the most famous, followed by the yellow pear. The crisp pear gets its name from its resemblance to a mandarin duck in shape and was historically known by other names such as "Jiao Pear" and "Ying Pear" based on geographic orientation. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, pear tree cultivation became relatively common. More extensive planting occurred during the Ming Dynasty, specifically in the Xuande era, when the magistrate of Jiaohe County, Lin Jun, mandated that local households plant pears and jujubes to prepare for famine. Later, due to natural disasters and wars, the pear industry faced near collapse. During the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period, influenced by canal shipping and the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, the pear industry experienced rapid development.

　　In 1953, Jiaohe County led all counties and cities in pear and fruit production, reaching 15.92 million jin. In September 1958, the Ministry of Agriculture held a fruit tree work field conference in the Jiaohe pear region to summarize and promote the county’s pear production experience; the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio specially went to Qiqiao to film a newsreel about the bumper harvest of crisp pears. In 1962, Jiaohe County was designated by the provincial government as a production base for exporting crisp pears. In 1985, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fishery named Botou City as a pear and fruit production base, making it one of the country’s four key pear and fruit production bases. The "Canal Brand" crisp pear was also listed as a special fruit for state banquets that same year. In 1991, Botou hosted its first Crisp Pear Festival, where Wang Renzhong, then Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, personally inscribed: “China’s No. 1 Crisp Pear Hometown — Botou.” In 2005, “Botou Crisp Pear” was approved by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine for national geographical indication product protection, and in 2009 it was recognized as a national geographical indication certification trademark by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. In 2011, it was named “Hebei Province’s Advanced County in Comprehensive Grain Production Capacity Improvement for the Year 2011.” In 2012, the city was honored as one of “Hebei Province’s Top Ten Fruit-Featured Counties.”

　　The Botou Crisp Pear is renowned both domestically and internationally for its large size, thin skin, juicy flesh, delicate texture, sweet taste, beautiful shape, as well as its high nutritional and medicinal value. It offers benefits such as relieving coughs, protecting the heart, reducing fatigue, boosting myocardial vitality, and lowering blood pressure. The city’s total fruit planting area spans 575,000 mu, with an annual yield of 602,000 tons and an annual output value of 1.167 billion yuan, accounting for 27.9% of the total agricultural output value. Among this, the pear planting area is 250,000 mu, all of which are standardized orchards, including 2,500 mu of high-standard pear orchards. The annual pear yield is 485,000 tons, with an annual output value of 780 million yuan. Both the planting area and production rank first among all counties and cities in China.