Northern Shaanxi Jujubes

Northern Shaanxi Jujubes

　　Northern Shaanxi jujubes are primarily produced in counties along the Yellow River such as Yichuan, Yanchang, Yanchuan, Qingjian, Wubu, Jia County, Shenmu, and Fugu. They are renowned worldwide for their large size, small pits, thin skins, thick flesh, rich flavor, and high oil content. Premium varieties such as date filling, oily jujubes, beach jujubes, wooden jujubes, and dog-head jujubes can all be purchased at Xi’an’s farmers' markets and major department and grocery stores.

　　“Three jujubes a day keep you healthy and long-lived.” People in Northern Shaanxi love jujubes, and many local customs involve them. On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, children wear two strings of jujube ornaments (made by stringing dried grass nodes, black beans, and jujubes alternately) around their necks, hopping around and looking very festive. By tradition, these jujube ornaments should not be eaten until the Laba Festival. But the children, being impatient, usually nibble them away bit by bit before then. Why hang jujube ornaments? To ward off evil and invite good fortune. On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, when the Kitchen God is sent off, people also steam jujube mountains. A jujube mountain is made by rolling white dough into rings, decorating them with jujubes, stacking them into a mountain shape, steaming them, and then offering them to the Kitchen God. They can only be eaten after the twenty-third day of the first lunar month. The jujube mountain is both food and art—during New Year visits, guests admire the hostess’s exquisite craftsmanship. In some areas, on the wedding night, the mother-in-law throws big red jujubes into the bridal chamber, and the newlyweds scramble off the bed to pick them up. These are called “fertility jujubes,” and eating them symbolizes having children soon. When the couple returns to visit the groom’s family, they are expected to bring back a “parting cake” for the bride’s parents, which is decorated with five jujubes on the edge and in the center. When new shoes are made and given to the wearer, they are not sent empty-handed but filled with a few jujubes inside, wishing the wearer early childbirth or prosperity. Even when rural women perform soul-calling rituals for children, they carry a few jujubes beforehand, which the child eats upon return—also for good luck.