Huanjiang Fragrant Beef

Huanjiang Fragrant Beef

Huanjiang Fragrant Beef is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　Huanjiang beef cattle are primarily fattened as calves of yellow cattle. The fattening method adopts traditional stall-feeding techniques — no grazing, no labor, and single-pen confinement. They are raised on a diet of various green grasses, wild sedge leaves, green hemp leaves, sweet potato vines, corn stalks, corn cobs, soybean husks, along with concentrated feed such as corn, millet, and soybeans. Huanjiang beef cattle have been awarded a National Geographical Indication Certification Trademark.

　　Fragrant pig, fragrant beef, and fragrant duck are known as the “Three Treasures” of Huanjiang.

　　The fame of Huanjiang Fragrant Beef is also growing. Also called “Xi’nan Fattened Cattle,” it is produced by the Maonan ethnic group using traditional methods to fatten local yellow cattle. Fattened cattle are a specialty of the Maonan mountain region and are now one of the pillar industries helping Maonan farming households escape poverty and achieve prosperity. Many villagers have become wealthy by raising fattened cattle and now enjoy a happy life with modern comforts such as upstairs and downstairs living spaces, electric lighting, and telephones.

　　Huanjiang beef cattle are raised within the national-level karst landform pristine forest nature reserve in Huanjiang County. These cattle are traditionally stall-fed throughout their lives, without labor, and they specifically consume wild sedge leaves and green hemp leaves — health-promoting wild plants. Their meat differs from conventional beef and is often described as having “three-layered marbling.” The meat is tender, sweet, crisp, and delicious.

　　Beef products include Huanjiang Fragrant Beef Jerky, among others.

　　Huanjiang beef cattle are mainly distributed in areas such as Xiatang, Caimen, Yuhuan, Jingyang, and Xi’yuan in Xi’nan Township, Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County. Also known as Maonan beef cattle or Xi’nan beef cattle, they are primarily fattened as calves of yellow cattle. The standard fattened weight is around 200–300 kilograms, with a net meat yield of 40–45%. The fattening method uses traditional stall-feeding — no grazing, no labor, and single-pen confinement. The cattle are fed on a variety of green grasses, wild sedge leaves, green hemp leaves, sweet potato vines, corn stalks, corn cobs, soybean husks, along with concentrated feed such as corn, millet, and soybeans. This practice has a history of over 500 years.

　　In recent years, the county has leveraged market demand, maximized resource advantages, increased policy support, and strengthened investment attraction, gradually transforming beef cattle production from “scattered raising” to “scaled breeding,” achieving industrialized development. The current beef cattle inventory exceeds 160,000 head. At the same time, the county has actively shifted its development model, extending the beef cattle industry chain. It has attracted a number of livestock product processing enterprises from both inside and outside the county to join forces, vigorously developing deep processing of characteristic beef cattle food series, and has essentially formed a comprehensive industrial service system encompassing breeding, catering, processing, and sales. This has enabled Maonan beef cattle specialty products to sell well across the region and beyond, reaching as far as Southeast Asia, making the “Beef Cattle Hometown” widely renowned.

　　After on-site investigations, research, evaluations, and verifications by experts, the China Specialties Promotion and Publicity Committee and the China Wild Plant Conservation Association awarded Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County the title of “China’s Beef Cattle Hometown.”