Shixing Yellow Tobacco

Shixing Yellow Tobacco

　　The Shixing County Annals compiled during the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty recorded that the leaf tobacco produced in Shixing was already renowned at that time. This shows that the cultivation of yellow tobacco in Shixing has a history of over 100 years. Due to the prevalence of red sandy soil in Mashi, which is ideal for growing yellow tobacco, the tobacco there is golden in color, richly aromatic, and highly combustible. As a result, most of the yellow tobacco from Mashi is exported. According to the county annals from the Republican era, over 1,000 dan of Shixing yellow tobacco were transported to Foshan and other places for sale each year. Since the beginning of this century, Mashi Town has been dedicated to building itself into a specialized yellow tobacco town. Tobacco seedling nurseries have been established in Liping Village and Huangtian Village, enabling intensive, professional, mechanized, and automated management of yellow tobacco production, which has provided strong support for effectively improving both the quality and quantity of the yield. According to statistics from December 2012, the yellow tobacco planting area in Mashi was 20,300 mu, producing 57,305 dan of yellow tobacco, with a total output value exceeding 63 million yuan. The town has successfully been named the “No.1 Golden Leaf Town in Guangdong.”