Jiuzhi Yak

Jiuzhi Yak

Jiuzhi Yak is an agricultural geographical indication product.

　　Jiuzhi Yak is a specialty of Jiuzhi County in Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Esteemed highly in Tibetan regions, Jiuzhi Yak has historically been offered as tribute to Tibetan leaders and honored as the "Tribute Yak of Jiuzhi." It is recognized as a nationally protected geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Jiuzhi Yak is a unique bovine species native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In ancient times, yaks were known as "Hao cattle" and referred to as "mao" or "mao" in historical texts. They were domesticated from wild yaks. Yaks are multipurpose animals, providing milk, meat, hide, wool, and labor. Every part of the yak is valuable. Tibetans in the Jiuzhi region have a long history and rich experience in butchering and processing yaks. For generations, their daily life—clothing, food, shelter, transportation, and farming—has relied on yaks. People drink yak milk, eat yak meat, burn yak dung for fuel, and use yak wool for clothing or tents, yak hide for leather, yak horns for crafts, and yak bones for medicine. Yaks are often called the "boats of the plateau" because they serve both as farm animals and transport in high-altitude areas. Yak culture is profound and time-honored. Yak riding competitions, though comical, are a local annual event among herders. Yak products are even exported to the Middle East. Live yaks are sold to places like Hong Kong, where they are prized for their tender, delicious meat, low fat, high protein content, and wild flavor. According to legend, long ago, Guoben of Guoluo was a lay practitioner well-versed in both Buddhism and Bon. He often worshipped mountain deities such as Majun Baola and Nian Bao Yeshi Ze devoutly. One day, while traveling with his entourage to admire the scenery around Yeshi Ze Mountain, they reached Ximu Cuo Lake (also known as Fairy Lake). Guoben went to view the lake alone, rested under a rock, and fell asleep. He dreamed that he heard a deafening cry: “The son of the Nian deity has been captured by a hawk!” Startled awake, he saw a huge evil hawk carrying a silvery-white little snake in its beak, flying away. He shouted and threw his hat into the air. The hawk, startled, dropped the snake and fled. He picked up the snake, put it in his hat, and placed it by the lakeside. Soon after, the snake crawled into the lake. Curious, he returned and spent the night by the lake. That night, he dreamed of a noble and graceful woman who approached him and said, “You saved the son of the Nian deity from the hawk’s mouth. The guardian deity Nian Bao Yeshi Ze wishes to repay your kindness. Tomorrow evening, he will invite you to his mountain palace. There, you will be presented with a patterned carpet, a wooden stick, and a dog. Ask for these three things. I am the mountain deity’s junior wife. The snake was my son. Disguised as a snake, he came to play by the lake but was captured by the hawk. Thanks to you, I advised you in gratitude. Tonight, you and your party should camp here again. Move your tent a bowshot’s length away, and you alone should stay there—I will come.” The next day, after following her instructions, Guoben expected to dream again. However, that night, a fierce snowstorm raged. The noblewoman from his dream suddenly appeared in the tent and said, “Please take your khata and dress properly. We shall go to the palace of Nian Bao Yeshi Ze now.” Slightly frightened, Guoben quickly put on his clothes and khata. Outside, he found a saddled white horse. As instructed, he mounted it, and the noblewoman led the horse. At times, it felt as if they were flying through the air, at other times walking on the ground, until they arrived at a grand palace. The noblewoman instructed, “Dismount, take the items with your right hand, and hold my left hand. Do not be afraid!” They ascended many jade and treasure-studded steps into a magnificent crystal palace. On a high throne sat a majestic mountain deity dressed in blue brocade, with a white scarf around his head, thick eyebrows, and a long beard. The noblewoman instructed again, “After paying homage, offer the khata. Don’t forget what I told you!” Guoben bowed, presented the gifts, and the mountain deity accepted the khata and asked, “Guoluo Guoben, what do you desire?” He replied, “I want this patterned carpet, this wooden stick, and this female dog.” The mountain deity said, “Grant him these items, then let the lady escort him back.” He draped a blue khata around Guoben’s neck and added, “Always sincerely worship the deities with a pure heart!” After Guoben agreed, the noblewoman took the stick, carpet, and dog and said, “Let’s go!” He removed the khata from his neck, tucked it into his robe, and followed her out of the palace. The snow-covered ground was vast and white. Amidst the storm, she had him remount the same horse and guided him back to his own tent. Upon dismounting, she said, “Open your robe.” When he did, she placed the carpet, stick, and dog one by one into his arms. Finally, she said, “This carpet is land, the stick is a weapon, and the dog is the daughter of Nian Bao Yeshi Ze. These three gifts will come to your home. Please continue to worship the deities devoutly. Take care!” She then rode off on the white horse into the sky. In the following days, Guoben felt as though the carpet, stick, and dog were still in his arms, but they remained unseen. All he could see was the blue khata gifted by the deity, which he used to make arrow fletching. Once, on the fifth day of the third lunar month in a Chicken Year, he dreamed that Nian Bao Yeshi Ze, riding a gray-blue horse with eight attendants, arrived at his tent and said, “Tomorrow morning, ride your horse with bow and arrows to the area between Ximu Cuo Lake and E Cuo Lake. You will see a black yak fighting my white yak. If you can shoot and kill the black yak with an arrow, I will give you my daughter to marry your younger son.” The next day, Guoben and his son Benyou went to wait there. That evening, during a snowstorm, two yaks—one black and one white—suddenly charged out from the lakes, wrestling and crashing on the sandbank amid earth-shaking roars, clashing horns, and flashes of light. Their bellows were deafening. The two yaks were so tangled with sand and stones that it was hard to distinguish them. Father and son drew their strong bows and shot two arrows, hitting the black yak, which fled into the lower lake, while the white yak escaped into the upper lake. On the seventh day at night, Nian Bao Yeshi Ze appeared in a dream and said, “Tomorrow morning, purify the site with incense offerings. My eldest daughter, the heavenly maiden Sangji, will appear as a white lioness. Touch her with the arrow fletching, and she will transform into a human maiden. After purification, you may take her as your daughter-in-law. This will bring great power, and you will gain control over six tribes in the Mahe region and become a local lord.” The next day, after performing the ritual, a furious white lioness indeed descended from the snowy, fog-shrouded cliffs. Even when she reached the tent, she shook her mane, roared, and exhaled forcefully, frightening Guoben and his party into unconsciousness. They couldn’t approach her, nor could they touch her with the fletching before she vanished. Later that night, Nian Bao Yeshi Ze appeared in another dream: “Tomorrow morning, purify with incense. My second daughter, the mountain maiden Zhouman, will appear as a green dragon. Touch her with the fletching, and she will become a human maiden. After purification, take her as your daughter-in-law. This will bring prosperity, and you will rule over the Wang tribes in Mahe and become a regional leader.” The next day, the same ritual brought a giant green dragon emerging from the stormy, snowy sky. Like the previous day, no one dared touch it, and it too disappeared. That night, yet another dream came: “Tomorrow morning, perform a grand incense offering. My youngest daughter, the dragon maiden Zheze, will appear as a snow snake. Touch her with the fletching, and she will become a human maiden. After purification, take her as your daughter-in-law. This will bring moderate prosperity, and two generations will rule over the regions of Duo, Ze, and Ma. Your descendants will thrive, blessed by dragon and mountain deities. After my daughter bears a son, please send him back to me.” The next day, amid fierce snow and dark clouds, a snow snake slowly emerged from the cliff. When touched with the fletching, it transformed in a golden flash into a beautiful maiden wearing bright flowers, dressed in gleaming white brocade—slender, graceful, and charming. They named her Nianmao Meiduotaoji and took her as their daughter-in-law. To this day, people can still see the flowers she once wore on the grasslands and hillsides. Yaks are one of the primary livestock breeds in Jiuzhi County. Among all livestock, yaks rank first in numbers. They are multipurpose animals, providing milk, meat, wool, and labor. Due to unique domestication and selective breeding practices, yaks possess distinctive biological traits and economic value. However, due to prolonged objective and human factors, their quality has gradually declined, along with significant reductions in productivity. Harsh local ecological conditions, weak economic foundations, and limited scientific literacy have led to weak awareness of product conservation. An adult male yak (over five years old) weighs only about 320 kg, while females weigh around 220 kg. By the 1970s, under the planned economy model, people focused solely on increasing yak numbers while neglecting efficiency. Overuse of grasslands and lack of infrastructure led to severe degradation, and yak herd quality notably declined. By 2009, compared to 1985, the weight of adult plateau yaks had decreased by 24.46% for males and 23.24% for females. With deepening reforms and rising expectations for better living standards, driven by demand for more and diverse livestock products, improving yak productivity, making full use of local resources, and accelerating development in pastoral areas became essential. The Qinghai Plateau Yak is one of the three major local yak breeds listed in the national livestock genetic resource conservation directory under Announcement No. 130 of the Ministry of Agriculture. For years, due to a lack of scientific breeding and conservation, as well as exploitative management and usage, the productivity of Qinghai Plateau Yaks has continuously declined. Due to the inclusion of wild yak genes during their formation, they exhibit distinct wild yak characteristics. Their most typical breed traits include large body size and strong adaptability to the harsh Qinghai-Tibet Plateau environment. However, increased human activity—intentionally or unintentionally—has hindered further gene flow from wild yaks, gradually weakening or erasing breed characteristics. For a long time, due to neglect in selecting breeding bulls, inbreeding has become severe, leading to obvious degradation in yak productivity. High-quality yak breeds have become a bottleneck for development. In 2012, Jiuzhi County had a yak population of 186,800, including 94,056 breeding females. The provincial Department of Animal Husbandry approved the construction of a “Plateau Yak Breeding Farm” in Zhiqu Songduo Town. The project’s breeding demonstration zone in Zhiqu Songduo Town, Jiuzhi County, has 41,666 breeding female yaks, making it suitable for establishing a core breeding group. The average elevation in Jiuzhi County exceeds 4,000 meters, with 9.9677 million mu (about 1.66 million acres) of usable grassland, accounting for 83.6% of the county’s total land area of 8,757.25 square kilometers (13.1359 million mu). Usable grassland makes up 90.7% of the total grassland area. Herding accounts for 90% of local income. Due to the larger body size and superior meat quality of Jiuzhi yaks compared to those in other regions, demand for plateau yaks has risen in recent years, exacerbating supply shortages. Currently, the yak breeding system faces issues such as a shortage of purebred bulls, non-standardized selection, unclear selection criteria, and limited annual supply of breeding bulls. Therefore, establishing a high-quality plateau yak breeding program in Jiuzhi County, Qinghai Province, under the current livestock production system offers unique advantages for breed conservation and promotion across Guoluo Prefecture and the entire province. As recorded in Lüshi Chunqiu: “Of all meats, the most delicious is that of the yak.” Jiuzhi Yak meat is tender, juicy, and finely textured, with bright red color, high protein content, balanced levels of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and amino acids, minimal gaminess, and a delicious, fragrant taste that aligns with modern dietary preferences.

　　Jiuzhi County is located in the southeastern part of Qinghai Province and is a purely pastoral county inhabited by ethnic Tibetans. Animal husbandry is the mainstay of the county’s economy, with a total of over 400,000 head of livestock, known for producing yaks, Tibetan sheep, and Hequ horses.

　　Jiuzhi County has strengthened the foundational role of animal husbandry, focusing on improving efficiency for herders and increasing their income. By actively guiding scientific animal husbandry practices and overcoming reluctance to sell, the county has steadily increased livestock slaughter and commercialization rates, achieving notable progress in livestock development. The Jiuzhi Highland Yak Breeding Farm has been completed, consisting of 200 base herds and 80 core herds, forming a breeding group of 3,000 mature female yaks. The breeding farm has permanent offices, fully equipped facilities, comprehensive records, and operates smoothly, having completed evaluations of newborn calves, one-year-old, and two-year-old yaks.

　　In 2013, the "Jiuzhi Yak" application submitted by the Jiuzhi County Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Workstation passed the review of the National Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center and expert evaluation, and was granted national geographical indication registration protection.

　　Geographic Scope

　　Jiuzhi County is situated in the southeastern part of the southern Qinghai Plateau and the eastern part of Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It borders Aba County of Sichuan Province to the southeast, Darlag County to the west, Maqu County of Gansu Province to the northeast, Banma County to the south, and faces Gadê County across the Yellow River to the northwest. Its longitude ranges from 100°20′ to 101°47′ (a span of 1°27′), and latitude from 33°02′ to 34°03′ (a span of 1°1′). The county stretches approximately 136 km from east to west and 126 km from north to south. Jiuzhi Yak breeding areas cover all five townships and one town in the county: Zhiqu Songduo Town, Mentang Township, Suohurima Township, Wasai Township, Baiyu Township, and Wa’er Yi Township. The county’s total land area is 8,757.25 square kilometers (13.1359 million mu), including 10.9854 million mu of grassland, accounting for 83.6% of the total land area, of which 9.9677 million mu are usable, making up 90.7% of the total grassland area.