Paradise Red Tobacco

Paradise Red Tobacco

　　Paradise Red Tobacco

　　The red tobacco leaf, a local specialty of Tian Tang Town in Xinxing County, is said to have been introduced during the early years of Emperor Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, when seeds were brought by a merchant from Dong’an County who sold Luoding wax pills. At first, as he traveled the region selling his wares, he came to Tian Tang Town and realized it was a drought-prone area ideal for growing the red tobacco from Luoding County. During spring droughts, if rice couldn’t be planted, red tobacco could be grown instead. The next time he returned, he brought one sack of wax pills and one sack of red tobacco seeds, which he distributed to villagers in over ten nearby villages such as Batun Village in the east, Dishi Village in the south, and Langzi Village in the west for trial planting. Over the years, cultivation gradually increased. Before long, the Dong’an man returned to Tian Tang and took some tobacco leaves back with him to sell.

　　One day, while selling the leaves in Dong’an County town, he was spotted by a Fujian man named Lu Wang, who had come from Guangzhou to buy Dong’an flower stones. Lu Wang noticed that the tobacco leaves were different from those grown in his native Fujian — they had a uniquely fragrant aroma — so he bought some to take back home for comparison. However, by the time he arrived in Guangzhou, the tobacco had already been snapped up at high prices. Seeing an opportunity for profit, he went back to Tian Tang to purchase more tobacco leaves, transporting them in bulk to Guangzhou for sale.

　　Lu Wang earned substantial profits for several consecutive years. Later, he opened a tobacco shred shop called “Lu Wan’an” in Guangzhou, which quickly gained a strong reputation. After Lu Wang’s death, his son took over the business. In the early years of Emperor Guangxu’s reign during the Qing Dynasty, a branch of “Lu Wan’an” was also established in Tian Tang Market. Merchants from Panyu, Nanhai, and the Four Counties (Siyi) also set up shops in Tian Tang Market that specialized in tobacco leaf trading, leading to an increase in local tobacco cultivation. Paradise Red Tobacco gradually became widely known and was exported as far as Guangzhou and Hong Kong.