Suiyang Chili Peppers

Suiyang Chili Peppers

　　　 Suiyang chili peppers boast a long and storied cultivation history, with trading records dating back to the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. Major varieties include large chili, facing-heaven chili, wrinkled chili, and bell pepper, among which the “facing-heaven chili” stands out as uniquely distinctive and renowned both domestically and internationally. Known for its glossy sheen, uniform appearance, intense spiciness and aroma, thin skin and thick flesh, it is rich in a variety of trace elements and minerals needed by the human body, making it highly popular among consumers as an excellent condiment. Capsaicin and red pigment extracted from the chili are widely used as additives and industrial raw materials in sectors such as food, medicine, cosmetics, and military industry. 　

　　　 Suiyang is China’s primary production area for facing-heaven chili peppers. As early as the 1960s, “Suiyang Facing-Heaven Chili” was honored as an “export exempt product,” and has been exported to countries including Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Germany. In 1983, Suiyang was awarded the “National Export Product Production Base Honor Certificate” by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China, and in 1999, it was named the “Hometown of Chinese Chili” by the Specialty Economic Committee of the Chinese Association of Agricultural Science Societies. Currently, Suiyang’s “facing-heaven chili” is cultivated on a perennial area of over 200,000 mu, with an annual yield exceeding 30,000 tons. There are more than 20 deep-processing enterprises and over 20 types of processed products. The region is home to the largest chili-specialized trading market in Southwest China, forming an integrated chili industry development pattern across the county encompassing agriculture, industry, trade, production, processing, and sales.

　　Northern Guizhou’s Suiyang is not only famed as China’s Poetry Town but also well known as the “Hometown of Chili” renowned both at home and abroad. In October 1997, the Suiyang County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the County People's Government successfully hosted the “First China · Guizhou · Suiyang Poetry Festival and Chili Festival.”

　　　　According to the “Guizhou Provincial Annals (Geography Volume)” (published by Guizhou People's Publishing House in 1985): “Suiyang small chilies, with an annual output of over 3,000 tons, are a major production area for small sun-dried chilies in Guizhou and one of the seven nationally renowned export chilies. Zhengchang is particularly famous for its facing-heaven small chilies.” Every summer and autumn, the hillsides are ablaze with chili peppers red as fire, bright as rosy clouds, and magnificent as brocade. Each upright-facing chili is like a bugle call, heralding the journey toward prosperity through hard work, bringing immense joy to the chili farmers of Poetry Town, and fostering among Suiyang people a taste that is “not afraid of spice” and even “fears not being spicy enough.”

　　　　The facing-heaven chilies of Poetry Town Suiyang were introduced via Hunan and Guangxi during the height of the Tang Dynasty and have over a thousand years of cultivation history. Over time, they have developed distinct local characteristics, with the “facing-heaven chili,” whose fruits grow in clusters facing upward, being the most unique. Renowned both at home and abroad for its glossy bright-red color and deliciously spicy flavor, its fruits are small and pointed, turning red upon ripening, with thick, bright-colored flesh and a long-lasting, richly fragrant spiciness. It serves as a highly nutritious vegetable and seasoning. Processed chili products made from it today include chili powder, fermented chili, red oil chili, roasted chili, chili sauce, pickled chili, chili oil, and chili strips — all beloved traditional seasonings in southern China.