Spring Outing: Forage Wild Delicacies in the Wild

When spring breeze blows, the Longjing tea buds begin to sprout in tea-growing villages; when spring rain falls, tender bamboo shoots start poking through in bamboo forests; when river water warms, the tantalizing knife fish and pufferfish of the Yangtze River return. If flower viewing and spring outings feel a bit cliché, why not gather your family and friends and head to the countryside? Taste seasonal wild game and bring home a basket full of spring colors!
Tender Shoots Break Through the Soil—Quick, Dig Them Up for a Taste

 

　　Bamboo shoots are available all year round, but spring and winter shoots are the most flavorful. The harvesting of spring shoots is divided into several stages—the shoots from after Lichun (Start of Spring) to early April are plump, white, and delicious. In the warm spring days of April, grab a bamboo basket and a shoot shovel, head into the mountains to dig for shoots—it’s a highly enjoyable and wild experience. Of course, it's best to go with a local villager as your guide for safety.

　　The best time to dig bamboo shoots is right after a rain. The day before, the rain soaks the ground thoroughly, and the next day the sun comes out, leaving the soil very loose. Grab a basket and a sickle, and head straight for the bamboo forest. Once inside, everyone spreads out to explore their own little patch. With just a bit of light, you carefully scan the ground—soon you’ll spot pointed tips peeking out from gaps beneath dead leaves. Sometimes, you might accidentally step on something sharp; turns out, they’re right under your feet, almost saying hello.

Those emerging tips come in pinkish, light purple, or pale green hues—both delicate and playful, simply adorable. Based on the direction of the shoot tip, you can judge its overall orientation. Just insert the tip of the sickle about 10 cm along the side of the shoot and pull firmly with a “zzzip”—a crisp snap, and it’s off. Then, just pull it out from the tip with almost no effort needed.

　　Aside from the colorful part above ground, the underground section is milky white and plump—this kind of shoot is the most tender. Generally, those with green tops aren’t as tasty. If you’re lucky enough to find these post-rain shoots and there aren’t too many people around, in less than half an hour your basket will be full—and you can head back home.

　　It’s highly recommended to take the freshly dug shoots straight to a farmhouse, where they can be shelled and cooked on the spot. Be sure to eat them while they’re fresh. Even more strongly recommended is the simplest cooking method: stew the shoots with cured pork—the pork is just there to “enhance the flavor,” while the shoots are the star. The resulting soup is rich, aromatic, and deeply flavorful. As the Shanghainese would say, “So fragrant it could knock your nose off.”

　　When visitors see a bamboo forest or sea of bamboos, don’t get too excited right away—many areas prohibit digging for shoots. Always consult and get permission from locals beforehand, and only dig under their guidance. Otherwise, you might not only be accused of stealing shoots, but improper digging methods could also damage the bamboo forest’s growth and affect next year’s harvest.

　　Shanghai Sheshan: Take Tourism Bus Line 1B from Shanghai Stadium, Xujiahui-Nanshi Line, Shanghai West Bus Station-Hushikun Line, Shanghai West Bus Station-Huanchen Line, or Shanghai Stadium-Shangshe Line. This year’s Sheshan Orchid Shoot Culture Festival kicked off on March 26.

　　Anji: First go to Hangzhou. From Hangzhou North Bus Station, there are buses to Anji every 20 minutes to half an hour, taking about 55 minutes to reach Anji County (Dipu Town, the location of the county government).

   New Tea Sprouts Green—Harvest Early for Fragrance

 

　　“Carry a bamboo basket up the tea mountain, ten slender fingers busy picking tea.” These are the busiest days for tea plantations. Want to sling a bamboo basket over your shoulder, wear a straw hat, weave between rows of tea bushes, breathe in the fragrance of tea leaves, listen to the girls’ singing, and feel spring up close?
　　Longwu Tea Village boasts Hangzhou’s largest contiguous thousand-mu tea plantation and is one of the protected areas for West Lake Longjing tea. The scenery here is picturesque, the tea quality excellent. Visitors can carry bamboo baskets to pick tea leaves by hand, then have village tea masters fry them. Tasting the fruits of your labor is surely a more rewarding experience. Additionally, sampling premium Longjing tea and watching tea frying performances are essential activities.

　　Longwu isn’t just about tea—it also offers uniquely rustic farmstead fun. Feast on winter bamboo shoots, free-range chicken, old duck, or forage for malantou, shepherd’s purse, and chrysanthemum greens. Local families have built traditional stoves—you can even cook yourself and enjoy the pleasure of preparing wild greens. You can also find nostalgic toys like spinning tops, iron hoops, and beanbags that are rare in the city, taking you back to childhood memories.

　　This year’s pre-Qingming tea is expected to be harvested at the end of March—any earlier is unlikely to be authentic. Genuine Longjing tea carries a Protected Designation of Origin label. Fresh tea has a delicate aroma, clear soup color, and neat, glossy appearance, while fakes often have a grassy smell and rough texture. Additionally, the West Lake Technical Supervision Bureau has designed a 2D barcode specifically for West Lake Longjing that allows for verification.

　　More Recommended Places for Spring Tea Picking:

　　Located in Baili Xincun, Yangshuo County, it’s a 25-minute drive from downtown Yangshuo. The environment of Qixianfeng Tea Plantation is highly ecological, with the main tea fields formed by seven towering peaks resembling the Big Dipper, hence the name. Tea picking must be done before 9 AM—that’s when the tea picked produces the best flavor. As you journey through the mist, when you reach the peak of the plantation, the fog may still linger. The songs of Zhuang girls echo fittingly through the mountain air, adding to the charm.

　　The finest tea in the world, “Emei Snow Sprout,” comes from the peaks of Mount Emei at altitudes of one kilometer. Heishui Village sits at 1,200 meters above sea level, with a tea-growing history dating back to the early Sui Dynasty. Initially, there was no Heishui Village—only Heishui Temple. The Medicine King Sun Simiao discovered this place; he visited Mount Emei 25 times in his life, and each time he came to Heishui Temple to taste the Emei Snow Sprout brewed by the temple’s tea monks.

　　In the mornings, Heishui Village is shrouded in mist, filled with birdsong and floral scents. Standing amid the lush green tea fields, you’ll feel refreshed. The tea-picking technique here is similar to elsewhere—“pluck” rather than “pinch.” Picking tea at such high altitudes requires avoiding overexertion to prevent discomfort, so be sure to rest well the night before.

   River Delicacies: A Thrilling Indulgence

 

　　Jiangyin—spring is the season you simply must visit for that deadly irresistible pufferfish. The Japanese love pufferfish, which swim in the sea and are highly toxic, yet they eat them anyway. In China, if you crave pufferfish but are a bit scared, Jiangyin is the place to go. It has a long history of pufferfish consumption and official licensing, giving you the self-assurance of extreme safety. In fact, most pufferfish today are farmed, never venturing into the sea, thus losing both their wild nature and toxicity—so dig in without worry.

　　Jiangyin locals prepare pufferfish in two ways: red-braised or boiled. The famous saying “risk death to eat pufferfish” is actually a mishearing—the original phrase is “risk washing to eat pufferfish,” due to the similar pronunciation of “wash” (xi) and “die” (si) in the Jiangyin dialect. Jiangyin folks have been eating pufferfish for thousands of years and know that as long as it’s washed clean, there’s no danger. After a few years of eating pufferfish in Jiangyin, you’ll gain some wisdom too.

　　In downtown Jiangyin, there’s an old restaurant called “Xin Caisheng” that serves authentic dishes like drunken crab claws, braised pork trotters, and tuoluobing (oven-pulled cakes). Just one meal of these hometown flavors is deeply satisfying.

　　The pufferfish was meticulously rinsed by the master chef for 40 minutes using a complex process before being cooked. By the time the other dishes were finished, it was served in a clay pot. When eating fish, start with the skin—the pufferfish skin is covered in tiny spikes. Gourmets roll the skin inside out to tuck the spikes in, then swallow it whole. It’s said to cure stomach ailments, but for me, it just satisfies my cravings.

　　The pufferfish meat is rich with fat, tender and smooth. For the leftover fish broth, pair it with a bowl of Jiangyin’s famous red soup noodles. On its own, it’s already delicious, but adding the fish broth makes the entire bowl incredibly savory and sweet.

　　Attraction link: Parks in Jiangyin are free of charge. One particularly unique one is Ezuibi Park, which has a path leading to the riverbank where you can view the Jiangyin Bridge. A large stone tablet nearby reads “River’s End, Sea’s Beginning,” likely penned by a master calligrapher. Take a stroll here, then stuff yourself with pufferfish—it truly feels like a joyful life.

 

 
 

　　Hairtail fish is absolutely a “seasonal delicacy,” only appearing from early March to early April. Moreover, each period has its nuances: hairtail caught before Qingming Festival has crisp bones and tender, melt-in-your-mouth flesh; once past Qingming, the meat becomes tougher and the taste much inferior. Also, while pufferfish can survive for a day or two after being caught, hairtail is more delicate—dying as soon as it leaves the water—so what you get in Shanghai is usually frozen hairtail from the previous day. Even so, this year’s prices are still a bit shocking: steamed hairtail, 2 taels for over a thousand yuan; a hairtail feast, 2,500 yuan per person for six guests…

　　The quality of hairtail in Taicang isn’t the most famous, but the chefs’ skills are the best. In Liuhe Town, Taicang, there are over 100 various restaurants and eateries, with a dozen or so well-known ones that each have their own unique techniques for preparing river-sea-fresh trio delicacies.

　　Seasoned diners will tell you all about it: when eating hairtail, first let it sit to let the natural flavor bloom on your taste buds, then gently suck—the tender flesh melts away from between the bones and spines, leaving soft, delicious bones to chew and swallow. The slightly harder dorsal bones of the hairtail are removed after steaming. Don’t think they’re useless—these small dorsal bones can be turned into an incredibly tasty dish. After frying, the hairtail dorsal bones become extremely crispy and are often served after the flesh is eaten, letting diners indulge once again in the fish’s umami.

　　Attraction link: There’s a Shaxi Town here, with one river, two streets, and three bridges—a place few people in Shanghai know about. It’s said the ancient town restoration cost over a billion yuan, with Ming and Qing dynasty houses scattered throughout. Some old residences have culturally rich names like "Yinxi Book House," "Nanye Studio," and "Lianrui Tower." The old street also sells snacks like lard rice crunch candy, peach treasure cake, coiled incense pastry, and Tusong sweet potatoes. Foodies, keep going !