Yining Lavender

Yining Lavender

　　Lavender

　　Western Xinjiang’s Ili region lies on the western frontier of China. With a latitude similar to that of France, a famous perfume-producing country, along with long sunshine hours, large diurnal temperature ranges, and a pollution-free environment, the area provides ideal conditions for high-quality aromatic plants. Over 40 varieties of fragrant plants are cultivated here, including lavender, purple-stemmed plants, peppermint, roses, clary sage, Roman chamomile, rosemary, and basil, with the total planting area of these natural aromatic plants spanning tens of thousands of acres.

　　Regarding the most widely used aromatic crop—lavender—the Xinjiang Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture began introducing lavender as early as the 1960s. The Ili River Valley in Xinjiang is the country’s primary lavender cultivation area, with a planting area of 21,000 acres, accounting for over 90% of the national total. Due to the shared latitude zone with France’s Provence and similar climatic and soil conditions, Xinjiang’s lavender has been ranked among the world’s eight most renowned varieties.