Jian Mountain Honeysuckle

Jian Mountain Honeysuckle

Jian Mountain Honeysuckle is a product with geographical indication status.

　　The Jian Mountain Scenic Area has an average altitude of 750 meters. According to the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, Jian Mountain is the source of the Si River and the heart of Fuxi Mountain. Li Daoyuan’s *Commentary on the Water Classic* further describes Jian Mountain as having “charming streams and picturesque valleys.” Here, the mountains are lush and the waters clear, with serene valleys and misty peaks, and wild honeysuckle covers the hillsides. The mountain is windy, cold, foggy, and dewy, with dense grass and thick woods, clay-rich soil abundant in minerals, and significant day-night temperature variation—all factors that contribute to the growth of high-quality honeysuckle. It has long been renowned worldwide for its “excellent color, pure quality, firm stems, and the ability to stand upright in boiling water without collapsing.” It is also known as the “Five-Finger Silver Needle.” This area is the birthplace of cultivated honeysuckle in China. Historical research indicates that cultivation began during the Ming Dynasty, with over 500 years of history. The revised *Mixian County Annals* from the 22nd year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1818 AD) records: “Fresh ones have a very pleasant fragrance, and those planted in the mountains are numerous, yielding considerable profit.” Historically, honeysuckle mostly grew wild, with cultivation limited to field edges, irrigation dikes, and barren hillsides. Left to grow freely, it was inconvenient to harvest, naturally sun-dried, and produced low yields. In the 1980s, small-scale field cultivation began, and a complete set of cultivation and drying techniques were developed, significantly increasing production. In this round of industrial restructuring, the Jian Mountain Scenic Area has accelerated land transfer, successively establishing three honeysuckle professional cooperatives. The field planting area has reached 1,500 mu, bringing the total planting area to 2,000 mu, doubling production, with an estimated annual output of 150 tons. Mixian honeysuckle has long been famous for its “excellent color, pure quality, and firm stems.” In 1980, a national tasting and appraisal meeting organized by the State Pharmaceutical Administration praised Mixian honeysuckle as “richly fragrant and the best in the country,” and established the only national special-grade price for honeysuckle medicinal materials. Before 1985, the then President 1, during an inspection in Mixian County, inscribed: “For honeysuckle across China, look to Henan; for Henan’s honeysuckle, look to Mixian.” Mixian honeysuckle has the longest export history. According to the *Mixian County Annals* stored at the Shanghai Library: “In the fourth year of the Republic of China (1915), Mixian honeysuckle was exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, bringing back 80,000 taels of silver.” Since liberation, Mixian honeysuckle has been sold as “genuine honeysuckle” at successive Canton Fairs, enjoying high reputation and strong sales in Japan, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong and Macao. With the continuous development of the medicinal and health functions of honeysuckle and further increases in production, it will surely bring more substantial benefits to the people of our region and inject new vitality into the development of our tourism industry.

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected production area of Jian Mountain Honeysuckle includes three towns in Xinmi City: Jian Mountain Scenic Area, Micun, and Niudian. It involves 28 administrative villages: Gongmiguan, Guogongling, Zhonggou, Tianzhongwan, Jian Mountain, Dinggou, Xiasiagou, Niuxinshi, Shagudu, Louyuan, Wuhugou, Shenxian Cave, Micun, Jiazhai, Zhujia’an, Mazhai, Fancun, Yanggang, Shishuwan, Niudian, Zhuanquan Temple, Huajiadian, Beizhao, Nanlong, Xiaozhai, Chenzhuang, Liwan, and Wangzhuang. The protected area spans geographic coordinates of 34°19′–34°40′ N latitude and 113°09′–113°41′ E longitude, bordering Dengfeng to the west, Xinzheng to the east, Yuzhou to the south, and Gongyi and Xingyang to the north. The total area is 257 square kilometers, with 670 hectares suitable for honeysuckle cultivation and an annual total output of 300 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. External Sensory Features: In late May, when the honeysuckle buds begin to swell and their color turns bluish-white or white-yellow, the best time to pick them is at noon. The buds are generally 4.5–5.5 cm long. If not picked in time and allowed to bloom, the quality declines and yield decreases. Drying is the usual method, with Mixian honeysuckle being of the highest quality. 2. Internal Quality Indicators: Jian Mountain honeysuckle stands out nationally for its “long flower stems, pure and superior quality, and firm stems,” as well as its “tea leaves that stand diagonally or straight, remain upright without drooping, produce golden-yellow tea, and offer a rich aroma.” It is known as the “Golden Needle of Five-Finger Ridge.” Beyond being a renowned tea product, Jian Mountain honeysuckle also has high medicinal value. It contains aspartic acid, which improves myocardial contraction and protects the heart muscle, and leucine, the only amino acid that regulates protein turnover in skeletal and cardiac muscles, promoting skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Jian Mountain honeysuckle is rich in amino acids, iron, zinc, and calcium. Testing by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Fruit and Seedling Quality Supervision and Testing Center (Zhengzhou) and other institutions shows that the total amino acid content in Jian Mountain honeysuckle ranges from 2.10% to 2.26%, iron content from 19.8 mg/kg to 21.6 mg/kg, zinc content from 5.5 mg/kg to 6.3 mg/kg, and calcium content from 840 mg/kg to 854 mg/kg. 3. Safety Requirements: The production area must comply with the *Environmental Conditions for Pollution-Free Honeysuckle Production Areas* (NY5010/2002) standard. In production management, strict adherence to the *Pollution-Free Agricultural Product Honeysuckle Production Technical Regulations (ZZNY/T0034-2009)* is required. The use of unregistered or nationally banned fertilizers, pesticides, and other agricultural inputs is prohibited to ensure product safety and quality.