Dried plum from Xinxing

Dried plum from Xinxing

Dried plum from Xinxing is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Dried plum from Xinxing

　　Dried plum from Xinxing is mainly produced in villages such as Dongshui and Caotian in Gongcheng District. Planting of plums started during the Ming Dynasty when Yao people lived here, with varieties primarily including Huomei and Daroumei.

　　In the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), Luogang plums from the suburbs of Guangzhou were introduced for cultivation, and since then, Luogang plums have become more common. However, those grown in Gongcheng Town are considered the best, renowned for their rich flesh, small pits, and crisp texture. They are also rich in vitamin C. The dried plums made from them are large, meaty, with a sweet-and-sour taste that leaves a long-lasting fragrant aftertaste and promotes saliva production. When soaked in hot water during the peak of summer, they can also help relieve heat, soothe the throat, and stimulate the appetite.

　　Dried plum from Xinxing is known for its rich flesh, small pits, and crisp texture, as well as being rich in vitamin C. The dried plums made from them are large, meaty, with a sweet-and-sour taste that leaves a long-lasting fragrant aftertaste and promotes saliva production. Dried plum from Xinxing is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Various mountainous towns in Xinxing, Guangdong, grow green plum trees, but those from Gongcheng Town are considered the best due to their rich flesh, small pits, crisp texture, and high vitamin C content. The dried plums made from them are large, meaty, with a sweet-and-sour taste that leaves a long-lasting fragrant aftertaste and promotes saliva production. When soaked in hot water during the peak of summer, they can also help relieve heat, soothe the throat, and stimulate the appetite. Dried plum from Xinxing is one of the famous traditional specialties of Guangdong.

　　1 Long History

　　Dried plum from Xinxing is mainly produced in villages such as Dongshui and Caotian in Gongcheng District. Planting of plums started during the Ming Dynasty when Yao people lived here, with varieties primarily including Huomei and Daroumei. In the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), Luogang plums from the suburbs of Guangzhou were introduced for cultivation, and since then, Luogang plums have become more common.

　　2 Origin of the Name

　　It is called "hua mei" (literally "talking plum") because it is a popular snack eaten while chatting, conversing, or storytelling.

　　Originally, hua mei was used by storytelling performers to moisten their mouths. After speaking for a long time and becoming dry-mouthed (back then, access to drinking water wasn't as convenient as it is today), they would place a salted plum in their mouth. The sour and salty flavor stimulated the taste buds, inducing saliva production and allowing them to continue speaking. (The storytellers' scripts were called "huaben," hence the name "hua mei" for the plum.)

　　Dried plum from Xinxing

　　3 Product Features

　　Dried plum from Xinxing is known for its rich flesh, small pits, and crisp texture, as well as being rich in vitamin C. The dried plums made from them are large, meaty, with a sweet-and-sour taste that leaves a long-lasting fragrant aftertaste and promotes saliva production. When soaked in hot water during the peak of summer, they can also help relieve heat, soothe the throat, and stimulate the appetite.

　　4 Health Benefits

　　Plums are beneficial to health and have a wide range of uses in medicine. In Huangyao, there is a custom of placing dried plum flesh on the navel to relieve headaches. Green plum juice is also boiled and stored in bottles; when stomach pain occurs, a bit dipped with chopsticks can alleviate the discomfort. Some also soak green plums in liquor for a month to make fragrant and delicious green plum wine. Regular consumption of green plum wine can help treat rheumatic bone pain, sprains, bruises, and lumbar muscle strain. Li Shizhen wrote in the "Compendium of Materia Medica": “The plum is a fruit that benefits the blood. It strengthens the stomach, constricts the lungs, warms the spleen, stops bleeding and expectoration, reduces swelling and detoxifies, promotes saliva and quenches thirst, and treats chronic cough, diarrhea...”