Kumquats bear fruit for rural county

Li Yonghong is a busy woman, as an increasing number of people visit her restaurant to taste the distinctive dishes made with local kumquats, which are in their peak ripening season.

At her restaurant in Yangshuo county in the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, bowls of freshly washed kumquats glow like scattered gold. Li picks one up, its skin taut and fragrant, with practiced ease, slices off the tip, and scoops out the pulp.

She minces pork by hand, then finely chops soaked mushrooms, spring onions, and garlic, and mixes everything together with salt, pepper, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Holding a kumquat in her right hand, she presses a small pinch of stuffing into it with her left hand.

When the plate is full, she places it in a steamer. Fifteen minutes later, the kitchen fills with a delightful aroma.

"A single bite captures everything: the kumquat's slight tartness yielding to the rich, tender meat inside, the flavors mingling into something bright, layered, and comforting," Li says with pride.

"Our kumquat dishes have received a 90-percent positive rating and guests from all over the country want to taste something truly local," she adds.

Besides eating kumquats, visitors to Yangshuo often begin their journey in the kumquat orchards across the county, where row upon row of trees blanket the hillsides.

They take in the beautiful views while picking the fruit straight from the branches and tasting their sweet yet tart juice, Li observes.

Kumquats have been grown in the county for over 180 years, ever since Hakka (a subgroup of the Han ethnic group) settlers brought them from southeastern Jiangxi province, says Xu Xuefang, head of the Yangshuo agricultural bureau.

Over the years, Yangshuo's unique climate, clean water, abundant potassium- and selenium-rich soil, and vast day-to-night temperature swings have created a green and sustainable planting environment, shaping the fruit into one of China's most recognized regional specialties. Known for its thin skin, vibrant color, and plentiful juice, it is a perfect balance of sweet and sour, Xu says.

The county now boasts one of China's largest kumquat production and trade bases, yielding over 519,000 metric tons annually.

Li is just one beneficiary of the flourishing kumquat economy.

In the hills, farmers like Huang Qizhen and her husband Lu Rongfa tend 2.7 hectares of orchards. Many of their trees are currently in peak production, bringing the family an annual income of more than 200,000 yuan ($28,124).

Across Yangshuo, more than 100,000 residents earn part or all of their income from kumquats.

A senior official from Guangxi's Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs says that, in recent years, the region has taken the nationwide lead in establishing an agricultural brand catalog system, effectively enhancing the influence and competitiveness of products under the Gui (the official abbreviation for Guangxi) label.

The local government has invested heavily in the industry's growth by developing minimum standards, improving storage and logistics, and helping producers expand into domestic and international markets. In 2024, the county's market supervision bureau established a full industrial chain quality standard system covering over 140 items, which guarantees consistent quality from cultivation to export.

"From orchards to processing plants and online stores, every link now has standards to follow," says the bureau director Huang Mingsheng.

The county's strategy for kumquats goes beyond farming. It has developed six autonomous region-level kumquat-themed modern agricultural demonstration zones and 16 tourism demonstration parks.

Visitors can pick kumquats, stay in orchard-view guesthouses, or join rock-climbing routes that wind past fruit-bearing hills.

In addition to kumquat-themed tourism, the county has also partnered with traditional Chinese medicine brands to turn kumquats into health foods, snacks, and cultural souvenirs.

More than 30 processed products — from freeze-dried slices to pastries and jams — now contribute over 1 billion yuan in annual processing output, according to local authorities.

The county is now aiming to enter bigger markets.

It currently hosts nearly 100 e-commerce companies and more than 5,600 online stores. From January to October 2024, online retail sales reached 1.95 billion yuan, say local authorities.

Zhou Xiaowei has worked in the kumquat trade in Yangshuo for over two decades.

He ships about 500 tons of the fruit to the Yangtze River Delta region annually, particularly to Shanghai.

"People love the quality, and they keep buying them," he says.

Zhang Chunsheng, president of the Yangshuo kumquat association, says that Yangshuo's kumquats are exported to ASEAN countries and the five Central Asian nations, including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The next step is to explore entry into the markets of the United States and Canada, further expanding the brand influence of Yangshuo kumquats, Zhang says.

"We want Yangshuo kumquats to go global and have more people to enjoy their taste and therapeutic effects," he says.

yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn