Jingning Shiitake Mushrooms

Jingning Shiitake Mushrooms

　　Jingning is one of the primary origin and major production areas of shiitake mushrooms, and was among the first to be named a "Hometown of Chinese Shiitake Mushrooms."

　　Jingning shiitake mushrooms are a specialty of Jingning County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. Jingning is one of the birthplaces of artificially cultivated shiitake mushrooms in the world, and was designated as the "Hometown of Chinese Shiitake Mushrooms" by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1996.

　　According to the book *The History and Culture of Shiitake Cultivation in China*, written by edible fungi experts Zhang Shoucheng and Lai Minyi, shiitake cultivation originated in a 1,300-square-kilometer mushroom farming region centered around Longyan Village—the hometown of founder Wu Sangong—in the connected areas of Longquan, Qingyuan, and Jingning counties in Zhejiang, China. The counties of Long, Qing, and Jing have also passed down through generations the belief that shiitake mushrooms were once a patented royal delicacy. In the 19th year of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty (1839), a Mushroom God Temple was built at Baokengkou in Jingning. Every year from the 13th day of the seventh lunar month onward for ten consecutive days, the temple holds the Mushroom God Incense Festival, a tradition that continues to this day.

　　Jingning is one of the birthplaces of artificially cultivated shiitake mushrooms in the world, boasting over 800 years of shiitake cultivation history. There are more than 10 varieties of edible fungi cultivated here, including shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, king oyster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, king trumpet mushrooms, and tea tree mushrooms. In 2008, the county produced 52.94 million bags of edible fungi, generating an output value of 171.09 million yuan, making it one of the pillar industries for increasing farmers' income and prosperity. In 1995, the "Shanshan" brand shiitake mushrooms and black fungus both won gold awards at the Second China Agricultural Expo. In 1999 and 2001, they were respectively recognized as famous-brand products at the China International Agricultural Expo, and in 2000, they again received gold awards at the Zhejiang Agricultural Expo. In 2006, Jingning shiitake mushrooms were named one of the "Top Ten Famous Mushrooms of Zhejiang." Jingning has been awarded multiple times as a National Advanced County in Edible Fungi Production by the China Edible Fungi Association. It was designated as the "Hometown of Chinese Shiitake Mushrooms" by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1996.