Yunan Bamboo Shoots

Yunan Bamboo Shoots

　　Yunan Bamboo Shoots are a specialty of Yunan County, Yunfu City, Guangdong Province. The bamboo shoots from Yunan County are mainly large-headed bamboo shoots, also known as sweet shoots. They have a sweet taste and cool nature, contain trace amounts of bamboo alkaloids, and are snow-white in texture, crispy and sweet upon eating, making them one of the better edible bamboo shoots.

　　Yunan County’s specialty bamboo shoots are mainly large-headed bamboo shoots, also known as sweet shoots. They have a sweet taste and cool nature, contain trace amounts of bamboo alkaloids, and are snow-white in texture, crispy and sweet upon eating, making them one of the better edible bamboo shoots. The large-headed bamboo shoots of Yunan County are mainly distributed in the northern part of the county, with over ten thousand mu developed in Jiancheng, Baozhu, and Tongmen — three towns that make up one of the county’s top ten agricultural commodity bases. They thrive in low-lying, moist mountain valleys or sloped ravines, shooting up like towers from the ground. The harvest season for large-headed bamboo shoots runs from Lesser Heat to Autumn Equinox each year and can be harvested in four phases, yielding around two thousand kilograms of fresh shoots per mu annually. Among all types of bamboo shoots, large-headed shoots are considered the finest. Processed into pickled shoots, dried shoots, and canned bamboo shoots (also called clear-water bamboo shoots), they have broad market potential. The canned large-headed bamboo shoots from Yunan County are made from these large-headed shoots.

　　History

　　According to records, in the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), a Guangzhou businessman named Liang Mingtong opened the “Tongyi Bamboo Shoots Shop” on Nanmen Street in Jiancheng (then the county seat of Yunan) and was the first to produce canned large-headed bamboo shoots. The cans were labeled with “Xijiang Tongyi Bamboo Shoots Shop” and “Fresh and Tender Clear-Water Bamboo Shoots.” The products were sold in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, as well as various countries in Southeast Asia and the Americas. Due to their bright color, tenderness, plump meat, and crisp texture, the canned bamboo shoots from Yunan County gained acclaim in San Francisco, USA, earning them the nickname “Golden Mountain Bamboo Shoots.”

　　Economic Benefits

　　The large-headed bamboo shoots of Yunan County are mainly distributed in the northern part of the county, with over ten thousand mu developed in Jiancheng, Baozhu, and Tongmen — three towns that make up one of the county’s top ten agricultural commodity bases. They thrive in low-lying, moist mountain valleys or sloped ravines, shooting up like towers from the ground. The harvest season for large-headed bamboo shoots runs from Lesser Heat to Autumn Equinox each year and can be harvested in four phases, yielding around two thousand kilograms of fresh shoots per mu annually. Among all types of bamboo shoots, large-headed shoots are considered the finest. Processed into pickled shoots, dried shoots, and canned bamboo shoots (also called clear-water bamboo shoots), they have broad market potential.

　　Yunan Bamboo Shoots

　　Nutrition

　　Traditional Chinese medicine holds that bamboo shoots are sweet and slightly cold in nature, and non-toxic. Medically, they can clear heat and resolve phlegm, benefit qi and soothe the stomach, treat diabetes, promote urination, and relieve chest congestion and improve digestion. Bamboo shoots are also low in fat and sugar but high in fiber. Eating bamboo shoots can promote intestinal motility, aid digestion, reduce food stagnation, prevent constipation, and help prevent colorectal cancer. With very little fat or starch, bamboo shoots are a naturally low-fat, low-calorie food, making them an excellent choice for weight loss. Health experts believe that people living in bamboo-rich areas often enjoy longer lives and rarely suffer from hypertension, which may be related to their regular consumption of bamboo shoots.

　　In particular, worm-eaten bamboo shoots used medicinally, known as “insect bamboo shoots,” are effective diuretics suitable for conditions such as edema, ascites, beriberi swelling, acute nephritis-related swelling, wheezing cough, diabetes, and excessive thirst with internal heat. Tender bamboo leaves, bamboo shavings, and bamboo sap are also used in medicine.

　　Development

　　In the early 1950s, due to the closure of the bamboo shoot shops and the interruption of exports, the production of canned bamboo shoots was temporarily halted. Most were sold as privately sun-dried bamboo shoots, or processed into pickled shoots by supply and marketing cooperatives for sale in Wuzhou, Zhaoqing, and Guangzhou. In 1974, the former Jiancheng Commune (now Jiancheng Town) established a comprehensive factory specializing in canned bamboo shoot processing at Dengjiawan (a local place name), resuming and developing the production of canned large-headed bamboo shoots. After the reform and opening-up, with the development of agriculture and township enterprises, the county promoted bamboo shoot cultivation as part of its “Three Highs” agriculture (high yield, high quality, high efficiency). The planting area of bamboo shoots has continued to expand, and yields have increased year by year. By the end of 1999, the bamboo shoot cultivation area in the county had reached 76,298 mu, with a production of 945 tons and a total output value of 11.65 million yuan. The production of bamboo shoots has become a leading industry in the county and a key source of prosperity for local farmers.