Longli Chinese Hawthorn Berry

Longli Chinese Hawthorn Berry

Longli Chinese Hawthorn Berry is a geographical indication protected product.

　　The administrative regions under the jurisdiction of 14 townships in Longli County, Guizhou Province — including Longshan Town, Mazi Township, Caoyuan Township, Baisheng Township, Wanzhai Township, Yangchang Town, Gujiao Town, Naba Township, Xingshi Town, Xima Town, Gulong Township, Sanyuan Town, Shuichang Township, and Bajiang Township

　　 “A golden jar, filled with hard grains. People don’t eat the hard grains, they eat the golden jar.” This is a riddle popular in Longli County, Guizhou, and the answer is the Chinese hawthorn berry.

　　 September is the harvest season for Chinese hawthorn berries. In Chaxiang Village, Gujiao Town, Longli County, 157 households took advantage of the sunny weather to pick the golden fruits in their hawthorn berry orchards. Affected by adverse weather conditions, this year’s yield in Chaxiang Village was one-third less than last year’s. However, with the market price of over three yuan per jin, three times higher than last year, the villagers’ faces lit up with the joy of a bountiful and prosperous harvest.

　　The “King of Vitamin C” Takes Root in Longli County

　　 Chinese hawthorn berry, also known as ci li or mu li zi, is a wild specialty of the Guizhou Plateau. It is commonly called “hawthorn berry” due to the many tiny fleshy spines densely covering its skin. When ripe, the berry has thick, juicy flesh with a sweet and sour taste, rich in various vitamins, and high medicinal value. Its flowers, leaves, fruit, and seeds can all be used medicinally, offering benefits such as aiding digestion, invigorating the stomach, nourishing the body, and relieving diarrhea. The Chinese hawthorn berry boasts an extremely high vitamin C content — 2,000 milligrams per 100 grams of fresh fruit, which is 10 times that of kiwi, 50 times that of sweet orange, and 500 times that of apple. Hence, it is hailed as the “King of Vitamin C.”

　　In modern society, people pay more attention to healthy living and nutritious diets. Recognizing the broad prospects of the Chinese hawthorn berry, Longli began developing its hawthorn berry cultivation industry in 2000. Over the course of 10 years, it established 15,000 mu of hawthorn berry bases, transforming this distinctive product into a thriving ecological industry.

　　Chaxiang Village: Getting Wealthy from Hawthorn Berries

　　 Chaxiang Village in Gujiao Town, Longli County, has a hawthorn berry base spanning over 3,000 mu and stretching more than 10 li, making it the longest contiguous artificially cultivated hawthorn berry base in Guizhou Province.

　　 According to statistics from the Longli County Forestry Department, in 2009, the over 3,000 mu hawthorn berry base in Chaxiang Village produced more than 3 million jin of fresh fruit. Based on the average market price of 1.1 yuan per jin, the total income of the village’s 157 households reached over 3 million yuan, averaging 19,100 yuan per household — four to six times the income of ordinary crops. Yan Qihua, the village head of Chaxiang, said that the government provides subsidies for farmers who convert farmland back to forest to plant hawthorn berries, and there are also earnings from selling the fruit and seedlings. During off-seasons, farmers have more time to develop aquaculture and rural tourism, completely changing their production and lifestyle. Currently, 90% of Chaxiang villagers own motorcycles, 80% have renovated their homes, and life is getting better and better. No one wants to go out to work anymore — everyone stays in the village to grow hawthorn berries.

　　In High Demand: Longli Chinese Hawthorn Berries

　　 While planning its hawthorn berry cultivation and product enhancement, Longli County has also partnered with deep-processing enterprises such as Guizhou Huannan Biotechnology Engineering Co., Ltd. to extensively research and develop a series of hawthorn berry products.

　　Now, Guizhou Huannan Biotechnology Engineering Co., Ltd. continues to innovate in the preparation methods of hawthorn berry powder, meeting the conditions for industrialized and large-scale production, and has applied for patents related to the hawthorn berry industry. Lao Laifu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Guizhou Tongjitang, has also launched various medicines and health products containing hawthorn berry extracts, such as Jin Cili Juice Drinks and Jin Cishen Jiu Zheng Mixture, which are widely favored by consumers.

　　 The popularity of hawthorn berry products has led to a supply shortage in Longli County. It is reported that this year’s 15 million jin of fresh hawthorn berries produced in Longli have all been sold to merchants in the province and coastal areas such as Guangzhou — some are sold directly in the market, while others are sent to factories for deep processing.

　　The production area of Longli Chinese Hawthorn Berries includes the administrative regions under the jurisdiction of 14 townships in Longli County, Guizhou Province — including Longshan Town, Mazi Township, Caoyuan Township, Baisheng Township, Wanzhai Township, Yangchang Town, Gujiao Town, Naba Township, Xingshi Town, Xima Town, Gulong Township, Sanyuan Town, Shuichang Township, and Bajiang Township.