Western Suburbs Covered Leek

Western Suburbs Covered Leek

　　Western Suburbs Covered Leek is a specialty of Huaiyin District, Jinan City, Shandong Province. It is cultivated using unique methods and is renowned for its excellent color, aroma, taste, and appearance, often hailed as the "Fragrance That Travels a Thousand Miles."

　　The cultivation of Western Suburbs Covered Leek in Jinan began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It is said to have a history of over 300 years. Originating in the western suburbs of Jinan, it was grown in open-air cold frames and originally relied on windbreaks and straw mats or reed felts for insulation, supplying fresh leeks in winter and spring. Hence, it earned the name "Jinan Western Suburbs Covered Leek." Its unique cultivation method, along with its exceptional color, aroma, taste, and appearance, has made it widely known as the "Fragrance That Travels a Thousand Miles."

　　To revive the once-diminishing historical brand of Jinan Covered Leek in recent years, under the advocacy of Chen Guanchang, a senior agronomist and one of the first municipal-level science and technology commissioners, in 2004, Jinan Shengnong Seedling Co., Ltd. leased over 30 acres of land in the western part of Dajinzhuang, Duandian Town, Huaiyin District, to carry out protective cultivation and development of the Western Suburbs Covered Leek. In January 2005, a research group was formed with local agricultural science and technology personnel from the district and town to initiate preservation efforts. Traditional cultivation methods such as open-air cold frames and small arch sheds, as well as techniques like "digging leek mounds, trimming leek fuzz, and selecting leek mounds," were explored and organized. Combined with new technologies such as insect-proof nets, insecticidal lamps, yellow-blue sticky boards, and biological agents, scientific preservation, improvement, and development were carried out. In 2009, the "Jiajiale" brand "Western Suburbs Covered Leek" was selected as one of the top ten most beloved specialty agricultural products among Quancheng consumers. In 2012, the cultivation technique of "Western Suburbs Covered Leek" was recognized as a municipal-level intangible cultural heritage, and the "Jiajiale" brand "Western Suburbs Covered Leek" was named a Jinan Famous Agricultural Product. A 120-acre "Jinan Western Jiuxiang Urban Agricultural Park" has now been established specifically for the production and preservation of Western Suburbs Covered Leek cultivation techniques, implementing "professionalized, standardized, scaled, intensive, and branded" production and management. The product is in high demand and sells out quickly.