Baode Red Dates

Baode Red Dates

　　The main variety of Baode red dates is the Youzao (oily date), one of the famous date varieties in Shanxi Province, with a long cultivation history. In 1963, the Taigu Fruit Tree Research Institute of the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences traced the cultivation history of Baode dates to approximately 1,100 years based on the family genealogy of Feng Yuhe.

　　The main date-producing areas in Baode County are concentrated in villages along the Yellow River, such as Fengjiachuan, Shenshan, Yangjiawan, and Hanjiachuan. The dates from Fengjiachuan are considered the best, giving rise to the saying, “Pigs from inland, sheep from the frontier, and Youzao dates from Fengjiachuan that are an inch and a half long.” The average temperature in this region is 9.5°C, with an annual rainfall of 599.4 mm and an altitude of around 850 meters, all of which are conducive to the physiological and biochemical activities of the red dates and the accumulation of sugar. In addition to Youzao, the main cultivated varieties in this area also include Tuanzao (round date) and Xiaozao (small date). The name “Youzao” originated in the Qing Dynasty. It is said that when Emperor Kangxi tasted the dates produced in Nianpan’er (a place name) of Fengjiachuan, he found them very oily and praised them as “good oily dates!” Hence the name. These dates have small pits, thick flesh, and high sugar content. They are oval-shaped, uniformly sized, with an average weight of 10.2 grams per date. Dried Youzao dates contain 57.85% sugar, 1.87% acid, and a sugar-acid ratio of 3.09%. The dried dates are moist and oily, with long, shiny sugar threads, making them high-quality and renowned both within and outside the province. They are exported as far as Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, the Northeast, and even international markets, where they are very popular.