Luanhua Hawthorn

Luanhua Hawthorn

　　Luanhua hawthorn is a specialty of Luanhua County in Chengde City, Hebei Province. The county is abundant in hawthorn. By boiling hawthorn, white sugar, and clean water, then filtering the mixture, a fruit juice is produced. This beverage is sweet and tangy in flavor, with benefits such as relieving summer heat, stimulating appetite, promoting saliva production, softening blood vessels, and lowering blood pressure.

　　The hawthorn industry was once a thriving sector in Luanhua County. In 1986, there were nearly ten thousand family-run hawthorn orchards across the county. However, since the 1990s, due to the influence of the market economy, the price of hawthorn dropped significantly, causing the total area of hawthorn orchards in the county to sharply decline from 120,000 mu to 76,000 mu. Starting in 2006, the medicinal and health benefits of hawthorn have gradually been re-recognized and widely accepted. After careful research, the Luanhua County Party Committee and County Government concluded that revitalizing the hawthorn industry would require supporting and strengthening leading enterprises. After two years of effort, in 2008, the Luanhua County Government signed an agreement with the Huiyuan Group to invest 200 million yuan in a comprehensive food and fruit processing project. This year, the Huiyuan Group will build in Zhongguan Town a 5,000-ton-per-year fruit pulp production line, a 10,000-ton-per-year canned fruit production line, a hawthorn seed oil extraction workshop, an activated carbon production workshop, as well as auxiliary production facilities and office facilities including a R&D center and quality inspection center. Upon reaching full production capacity, the project is expected to achieve an annual output value of 200 million yuan and generate 20 million yuan in tax revenue, benefiting 80,000 fruit farmers with an average income increase of over 300 yuan per person.