Qingjiang Ginger

Last updated 2026-11-08 — When people in Lianzhou talk about ginger, Qingjiang immediately comes to mind. Qingjiang is a hilly semi-arid area with a climate well suited for ginger cultivation. In years when ginger sells well, a family can harvest over a hundred dan (a traditional unit of measure) in a year, making it the main cash crop that brings prosperity to the locals. Ginger is a classic example of a food and medicine dual-use plant — it is both an everyday food and a fine seasoning, as well as an indispensable common medicinal herb. The widespread use of ginger in China has a long history; as early as around 1,500 years ago, it was documented in the medical text “Names of Prescriptions.” In the “Analects of Confucius,” there is the saying “Do not remove ginger from the meal,” which means that people should eat ginger every day throughout the year. It’s said that Confucius had the habit of chewing a few slices of ginger after each meal. Among the people, there’s a widely circulated saying: “Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you won’t need a doctor’s prescription.” There are also sayings like “Three slices of ginger in the morning are better than a ginseng decoction,” and “October ginger is like little ginseng,” as well as the proverb “Three slices of ginger a day keep the doctor away.” The later health declaration by Ou Jishan proclaims that “A man cannot go a hundred days without ginger,” elevating ginger to an extremely revered status. Modern medical research has confirmed that ginger contains zingerone, which helps strengthen the spleen, stimulate appetite, and relieve coughing and vomiting; ginger oil can promote blood circulation, making the whole body feel warm and inducing perspiration, thus proving particularly effective in the early stages of colds caused by wind-cold.