Shen Suo Nanshan Ginger

Shen Suo Nanshan Ginger

　　Shen Suo Nanshan Ginger is a typical representative of Shixing Nanshan Ginger. Nanshan Ginger is a variety of ginger, a plant in the genus Alpinia of the Zingiberaceae family. Shixing is one of the producing areas of Nanshan Ginger. According to the "Xinhua Compendium of Materia Medica," Nanshan Ginger is distributed in Guangxi, Yunnan, and Shixing in Shaoguan, Guangdong. Its ginger is smaller and less ornamental, but it has high medicinal value, strong flavor, and is highly nutritious when cooked locally with yellow rice wine, eggs, and Nanshan Ginger for postpartum women. According to the "Shixing County Annals," Nanshan Ginger, also known locally as Southern Left Tilt Cellar Ginger, is a well-known specialty familiar to the locals of Shixing County. It has been grown by villagers for generations since the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period, with a long history. All planting is done on newly cleared land on hillsides. The land is first cleared by burning vegetation to turn it into fertilizer, and crops are not planted continuously but rotated with an interval of over 8 years to prevent soil-borne diseases, especially rot disease (ginger blight), which can lead to significant crop loss. Traditionally, Shixing Nanshan Ginger was mainly distributed in Shen Suo Town and Chengnan Town of Shixing County. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Beijing Tongrentang Pharmaceutical Company and a Hong Kong pharmaceutical enterprise purchased large quantities of Southern Ginger from Shixing for processing into traditional Chinese medicine, with nearly 10,000 mu planted at its peak. Currently, Shixing Nanshan Ginger is mainly concentrated in Nanshan Village, Shen Suo Town, with a planting area of over 300 mu, yielding about 1,000–1,500 kg per mu and generating an output value of about 10,000–15,000 yuan per mu.

　　Ginger is a highly valuable economic crop. In addition to containing physiologically active substances such as gingerol and shogaol, it also contains proteins, polysaccharides, vitamins, and various trace elements. It combines nutrition, flavoring, and health benefits, and has been regarded by medical experts since ancient times as a health product that is both food and medicine. It has multiple health functions such as dispelling cold, removing dampness, warming the stomach, and accelerating blood circulation. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that ginger can speed up human metabolism and unblock meridians, often used for male health care to enhance yang energy. It is considered a yang-enhancing substance, and there is an ancient saying in TCM: "A man cannot go without ginger for a hundred days." For postpartum women during their confinement period, having ginger vinegar with meals helps in recovery and infant feeding. Ginger increases appetite and prevents stomach diseases. Whether steaming fish or cooking, or used as a seasoning, ginger is an essential ingredient on the dining table. Its spicy taste can eliminate fishy odors and gamey flavors, and adding ginger to soup can dispel cold, harmonize the stomach, and enhance flavor. A popular saying goes, "When food doesn’t taste good, eat ginger," meaning that eating a few slices of ginger or adding a bit to dishes can improve appetite and increase food intake. Ginger can also be taken for gastric ulcers, deficient-cold gastritis, enteritis, and colds to dispel cold, induce sweating, warm the stomach, stop vomiting, kill bacteria, and relieve pain. Ginger is also a traditional Chinese medicine for treating nausea and vomiting, earning the reputation of the "holy medicine for vomiting."

　　Shen Suo Nanshan Ginger has a smaller, slender shape, high medicinal value, strong spiciness without fibers, a pungent taste, and warm nature. It can stimulate appetite, prevent vomiting, resolve phlegm and cough, induce sweating, and release the exterior, excelling in dispelling wind-cold. It is a well-known nourishing food essential for postpartum women during their confinement period. Cellar Ginger stewed with mother hen helps in recovery and infant feeding. Ginger is also an important seasoning for processed meats.

　　Shen Suo Town's Nanshan Village Committee in Shixing County has 37,000 mu of forest land, fertile soil, and abundant water resources with water temperatures being warm in winter and cool in summer. The year-round climate is mild, offering uniquely superior geographical and climatic conditions that are highly suitable for ginger cultivation. The village has a history of ginger cultivation spanning over a thousand years. Local farmers believe that Nanshan Ginger, due to its weaker resistance to ginger blight, requires higher standards of soil and climatic environment and yields relatively lower compared to other varieties. It is necessary to select slopes with better vegetation environments to clear new land. The weeds cleared during land preparation are burned on-site, and the resulting ash is buried in the soil—a method called "burning and clearing for cultivation" (which is also why locals call Nanshan Ginger "fire ginger"). Continuous cropping is not allowed, and rotation should occur after intervals of more than three years. Typically, burning and clearing take place in the previous winter, planting begins in February of the following year, and harvesting occurs in November. The harvested ginger (locally called young ginger) is deeply buried in the mountainside (2–3 meters underground) for about six months for preservation and post-ripening before becoming a product—commonly referred to as "cellar ginger" or "old ginger." Although Nanshan Ginger requires high standards for cultivation and employs unique techniques with relatively low yield, its product quality is excellent. The ginger flesh is tender, spicy, and fragrant, fetching good market prices and strong sales. It remains a best-selling product among locals and tourists from the Pearl River Delta region. Currently, the planting area of Shixing County Shen Suo Nanshan Ginger is still over 600 mu, with an annual output of more than 1,200 tons and an annual output value of nearly 24 million yuan. With attention from all levels, the Shixing County Shen Suo Town Nanshan Hanshou Ginger Professional Cooperative has been established. Under the cooperative’s influence, brand-based operations have been implemented to strengthen and expand the Nanshan Ginger industry.

　　The "Nanshan Ginger" variety produced by the Shixing County Nanshan Village Hanshou Mountain Ginger Cooperative is of high quality. As a pollution-free agricultural product and a renowned local specialty of northern Guangdong’s mountainous regions, it is renowned both within and outside the province for its tender flesh, strong spiciness, and rich fragrance. It is increasingly favored by consumers and is an ideal food for travel and home use.