Yellow tobacco

Yellow tobacco

　　Renowned as the "Hometown of Yellow Tobacco."

　　　Yellow tobacco is a treasured product of Nanxiong. The local farmers grow and love tobacco, inseparable from it throughout their lives. The Nanxiong Cigarette Factory produces and sells tobacco, with its brands "Baishun" and "Zhujie" sold across the country. The most important pillar of Nanxiong’s economy is yellow tobacco, with annual tobacco income accounting for more than half of the total national economic revenue.

　　　　The cultivation of Nanxiong tobacco has a history of over 300 years. The quality of Nanxiong tobacco leaves is excellent, making it a famous brand among China’s commercial tobacco products. It has long been renowned both domestically and internationally, supplying 28 major and medium-sized cities across the country, and at one point exported to as many as 67 countries and regions. From 1984 to 1994, the cumulative total tobacco production was 210,000 tons, averaging 21,000 tons per year, about 50% of Guangdong Province’s annual yield. Over ten years, the average annual purchase reached 15,600 tons, around 60% of the provincial average. Both production and purchase volumes ranked first in the province. Nationwide, only six counties or cities have tobacco cultivation areas exceeding 200,000 mu, and Nanxiong is one of them. This highlights the crucial role of Nanxiong tobacco within the province and its leading position nationally. In 1985, the Guangdong Tobacco Corporation designated Nanxiong as a high-quality production base. In 1986, the China National Tobacco Corporation recognized Nanxiong as an export sun-cured tobacco production base. In 1992, Li Yisan, then General Manager of the former China National Tobacco Corporation, visited Nanxiong and gladly inscribed: "The Hometown of Golden Leaves is in Nanxiong." Indeed, whether in quantity or quality, Nanxiong deserves the title of Tobacco Hometown. All 24 towns and townships in the city grow yellow tobacco, with over 100,000 tobacco farming households, accounting for more than 80% of total households. Across the fields of the Nanxiong Basin, yellow tobacco spreads over 200,000 mu, lush green in spring and golden yellow in summer. When harvest season arrives, curing barns blaze with fire, and the scent of tobacco wafts through village lanes. The whole city buzzes with activity and joy centered around tobacco.

　　　　Nanxiong tobacco was introduced from southern Fujian in the early Qing Dynasty and has thrived for over 300 years without decline. How did southern Fujian’s yellow tobacco make its way to Nanxiong? Mainly through two channels: one via clan migration. Many clans in Nanxiong originated from southern Fujian, and along with their relocation, they brought the techniques for producing yellow tobacco; the other channel was through commerce and trade. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Nanxiong enjoyed very prosperous commerce, with many traders from southern Fujian doing business there. To seek commercial profit, they were keen to introduce yellow tobacco production techniques to Nanxiong. Once introduced, yellow tobacco adapted well to Nanxiong’s unique soil and climatic conditions, yielding high-quality leaves and attracting more growers. By the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing Dynasty, it had become a regional specialty. The 1824 edition of the "Zhili Nanxiong Zhou Zhi · Products" recorded: "Tobacco leaves were not mentioned in older records, but in recent forty or fifty years, their cultivation has gradually increased. Planted in spring and harvested in autumn, they generate a million taels of silver annually, their profits nearly equal to those of grain crops."

　　　　Nanxiong tobacco leaves are famed for their golden-yellow color, rich and mellow aroma, and clean white ash when burned—three qualities that have long established their prestige. They are essential raw materials for major tobacco factories producing premium cigarette brands. Nanxiong sun-cured tobacco has always been popular with foreign buyers, with significant exports. During the Republican era, it was sold in 67 countries and regions across five continents. From 1953 to 1979, annual exports ranged between three and five hundred tons, peaking at 1,155 tons in 1954. After 1980, due to changes in the international tobacco leaf market and a shift in consumer preference from light to strong flavors, foreign trade exports ceased. In recent years, with improved tobacco varieties and enhanced quality, Nanxiong tobacco has resumed export.