Water Chestnuts

Water Chestnuts

　　Primarily produced in Lingui, Yangshuo, Lingchuan, and Xing'an counties of Guilin City, with the most renowned varieties coming from Weijiadu, Wangjia Village, Dongshan, and Yaotou in the urban area. The city's annual output ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 tons. Their cultivation history spans at least 170 years. Guilin water chestnuts are large in size, thin-skinned, thick-fleshed, brightly colored, sweet, crisp, and have very little fiber, with larger ones weighing around 35 grams each. Guilin water chestnuts have long been famous both in China and abroad, and are a traditional export product of Guilin, widely sold in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asian countries. They are commonly eaten raw or cooked as a fruit, and can also be made into water chestnut starch, sweet soup with water chestnuts, water chestnut candy, water chestnut wine, water chestnut noodles, and water chestnut maltose. Guilin-produced water chestnut candy is fragrant, crispy, transparent, sweet, and retains the original flavor of fresh water chestnuts; water chestnut starch is pure white and silky smooth. Together with Guixian lotus root starch, Longzhou betel nut starch, and Pingle lily starch, they are known as the four major dessert specialties of Guangxi, offering benefits such as aiding digestion, clearing heat, strengthening the stomach, resolving phlegm, quenching thirst, and eliminating jaundice. In addition, water chestnut cakes sold in various teahouses and restaurants are also widely popular. (Guilin)