Qixia Apples

Qixia Apples

Qixia Apples is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　Geographical Scope

　　　 Shandong’s Qixia City is known as the “Roof of Jiaodong” and covers an area of 2,017 square kilometers. The terrain is mainly hilly and mountainous, characterized by “six parts mountains, one part water, and three parts fields.” This unique geographical and natural environment is highly suitable for apple cultivation. The people of Qixia have a history of over 100 years in apple growing.

　　Specific Qualities

　　　　　　Qixia apples are renowned for their large size, regular shape, bright color, smooth finish, balanced sweetness and acidity, and crisp, delicious taste. They have been designated by the Ministry of Agriculture as a national high-quality fruit production base, recognized by the Ministry of Internal Trade as a model city for integrated fruit production, processing, and sales, selected by the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and the State Bureau of Technical Supervision as the country’s only standardized apple demonstration city, and honored by the China Specialties Town Naming Committee as the “Hometown of Chinese Apples.”

　　Cultural Stories

　　　　　　Since the reform and opening-up, the Qixia Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have leveraged the resource advantages of the mountainous region, focusing on developing the fruit industry as a pillar of the rural economy. They have mobilized the entire population to persistently reclaim land and plant fruit trees, widely applying comprehensive new technologies and achievements in fruit production such as formula fertilization, flower and fruit thinning, fruit bagging, pruning, reflective film laying, fruit-shape spraying, micro-sprinkler irrigation in orchards, and pest and disease control. Old and inferior varieties planted in the 1960s and 1970s were removed in a single effort, while high-quality, market-promising, and economically beneficial tree species were introduced. New but non-superior varieties planted since the 1980s were improved into superior ones, with proper combinations of early, mid, and late ripening varieties. As a result, both fruit yield and quality have continued to improve. Especially with the promotion of apple bagging technology, fruit coloration has significantly increased, pesticide residues have been eliminated, and fruit quality has largely aligned with international market standards.

　　Qixia City is rich in apple production with a long history, and is honored as the “Hometown of Chinese Apples.”

　　 As early as 1866, Qixia introduced apples. After more than a century, especially rapid development in the past decade, the city’s orchard area has reached 650,000 mu, with over 60 varieties of new and superior types including Red Fuji, Shinseiki, Gala, and Jonagold, yielding 1 billion kilograms. Introduced by American missionaries in 1871, the earliest varieties were primarily Green Banana and Red Banana, later supplemented by Xiaoguoguang and Golden Delicious. Since the reform and opening-up, Red Fuji and Jonagold have been added. Yantai apples are world-renowned for their bright color and crisp, sweet taste, making Yantai China’s most important apple production area. Qixia’s specialty apples are celebrated across China for six “national firsts”: planting area, comprehensive services, orchard management, variety technology, total and per-unit yield, and enterprise efficiency. Awarded the title “Hometown of Apples” by the National Specialty Horticulture Society and named “China’s No. 1 Fruit City” by the National Bureau of Statistics, nearly all of Qixia’s 953 administrative villages grow apples, predominantly Red Fuji. During harvest season, traders from outside flood Qixia’s villages. Many villages produce over 1,000 tons annually, with medium-yield villages like Lüxiang producing around 3,000–4,000 tons yearly. Thus, Qixia truly deserves its title as the Hometown of Apples.

　　 Shandong’s Qixia City is known as the “Roof of Jiaodong” and covers an area of 2,017 square kilometers. The terrain is mainly hilly and mountainous, characterized by “six parts mountains, one part water, and three parts fields.” This unique geographical and natural environment is highly suitable for apple cultivation. The people of Qixia have a history of over 100 years in apple growing. On the beautiful southern coast of the bay, in the heart of the Jiaodong Peninsula, lies a picturesque and resource-rich land—Shandong’s Qixia City, honored as the “No. 1 Apple City of China.” Since the reform and opening-up, Qixia has stayed true to local realities, pursued sustainable development, and aimed to build a prosperous, strong, civilized, and modern ecological city. It has developed high-yield, high-efficiency agriculture and high-tech industries, effectively boosting rapid economic growth.

　　 The fruit industry has become a pillar of Qixia’s economy. With the development of fruit production, Qixia decisively proposed a new strategy: “stabilize area, stabilize yield, improve quality,” shifting fruit production from speed-focused to quality-focused. The city implemented practical techniques such as straw and film mulching, formula fertilization, and pruning, along with over ten new technologies including apple bagging, leaf and fruit thinning, reflective film laying, and the use of non-toxic pesticides. Five high-quality seedling breeding bases and virus-free seedling test farms were established, as well as multiple “demonstration gardens,” “science and technology gardens,” and “model gardens.”

　　 At national and Shandong provincial fruit evaluation events, Qixia apples have won the “Green Food Certificate” issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, and Qixia’s “Yuguan” series of apples have been named “China Famous Fruits” by the Ministry of Agriculture and China Circulation Association.

　　 In the 1990s, the Qixia Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government vigorously implemented a fruit industrialization strategy, gradually forming a new production and operation structure where the market leads leading enterprises, leading enterprises drive bases, and bases connect with farmers. The city established over 60 various leading enterprises, more than 50 fruit cold storage facilities, and over 20 specialized wholesale markets. Among them, the Shewo’bo Fruit Wholesale Market was listed as a national-level wholesale market, becoming the largest in northern China. The Yuantong Juice Factory, built with advanced equipment imported from Switzerland and Germany to produce concentrated juice, operates Asia’s largest juice production line, with all products exported to the United States, Germany, Singapore, and elsewhere.

　　Located at the center of the Jiaodong Peninsula, Qixia features mainly mountainous and hilly terrain with an average elevation of 178 meters. It has a temperate monsoon continental climate, with an average annual temperature of 11.3°C, average annual precipitation of 754 mm, an average frost-free period of 207 days, distinct seasons, and a pleasant climate. The city enjoys a total annual sunshine duration of 2,690 hours, large diurnal temperature variations in autumn, suitable soil conditions, and a natural environment highly conducive to apple growth. Apple planting began here in 1866. Over more than 130 years of cultivation, local fruit growers have accumulated rich technical knowledge and experience, pioneering early high-yield techniques for young apple trees and year-round pruning techniques, which have driven innovations in fruit production technology nationwide. Orchard management in Qixia has consistently ranked among the best in the country.

　　 Since the reform and opening-up, the Qixia Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have leveraged the resource advantages of the mountainous region, focusing on developing the fruit industry as a pillar of the rural economy. They have mobilized the entire population to persistently reclaim land and plant fruit trees, widely applying comprehensive new technologies and achievements in fruit production such as formula fertilization, flower and fruit thinning, fruit bagging, pruning, reflective film laying, fruit-shape spraying, micro-sprinkler irrigation in orchards, and pest and disease control. Old and inferior varieties planted in the 1960s and 1970s were removed in a single effort, while high-quality, market-promising, and economically beneficial tree species were introduced. New but non-superior varieties planted since the 1980s were improved into superior ones, with proper combinations of early, mid, and late ripening varieties. As a result, both fruit yield and quality have continued to improve. Especially with the promotion of apple bagging technology, fruit coloration has significantly increased, pesticide residues have been eliminated, and fruit quality has largely aligned with international market standards.

　　 Qixia apples are renowned for their large size, regular shape, bright color, smooth finish, balanced sweetness and acidity, and crisp, delicious taste. They have been designated by the Ministry of Agriculture as a national high-quality fruit production base, recognized by the Ministry of Internal Trade as a model city for integrated fruit production, processing, and sales, selected by the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and the State Bureau of Technical Supervision as the country’s only standardized apple demonstration city, listed by Shandong Province as a base county (city) for the “30” Project in the apple industry, and acknowledged as a provincial base city for fruit tree variety development and one of the provincial demonstration cities for integrated fruit production, processing, and sales.