China News Service, Hefei, December 12 (Xinhua) -- Huangshan Gongju: The high mountain arrogant frost branch enters the drink to moisten the heart
China News Service reporter Zhang Qiang
In the early winter, in the area of Jinzhu Village, Bei'an Town, She County, Anhui Province, the Huangshan Gongju is still blooming white all over the mountains, and the faint fragrance lingers in the valley. Affected by the four qi (winter seedlings, spring leaves, summer stamen, autumn flowers), the frost-soaked Huangshan Gong Ju petals are white, and the flower pedicles are green, which is the unique natural flower color of the Alpine Gong Ju.
On November 11, in the area of Jinzhu Village, Bei'an Town, She County, Anhui Province, the Huangshan Gongju bloomed all over the mountains. Photo by Zhang Qiang
"It's not that chrysanthemums are favored among flowers, and this flower is even more flowerless." Chinese have had a chrysanthemum complex since ancient times, and they call chrysanthemum, plum, orchid, and bamboo "the four gentlemen in flowers". In the poem "Gift to Liu Jingwen", the Northern Song Dynasty writer Su Shi once used "There is no rain cover for the lotus, and there are still proud frost branches in the chrysanthemum" to encourage friends to maintain integrity and be optimistic.
At present, China's heavy snow season has passed, and the picking of Huangshan Gongju has entered the final stage. Located in the mountainous area of southern Anhui at the 30th parallel of north latitude, the suitable altitude, climate and soil pH have made the Huangshan Gongju in the frost and cold dew. According to Wang Qi, the provincial representative inheritor of the production skills of Anhui Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Huangshan Gongju (Huizhou Gongju), the planting and processing of Huangshan Gongju in She County began in the late Northern Song Dynasty and was named as a tribute in the Qing Dynasty.
On November 11, villagers in Jinzhu Village, Bei'an Town, She County, Anhui Province, picked Huangshan Gongju on the hillside. Photo by Zhang Qiang
Wang Qi said that the picking and production of Huangshan tribute chrysanthemums are very particular. When picking flowers, they are held in special bamboo baskets, and after the flowers are picked, they are first dried in the shade with bamboo and then baked. "Baking is the most technical part of the whole chrysanthemum making process. With the development of science and technology, charcoal baking is gradually replaced by dryers, but the effect of charcoal baking is irreplaceable by machines. ”
According to Wang Qi, She County still retains the traditional charcoal roasting method of Huangshan Gongju - using charcoal as fuel, using the thickness of the furnace ash as the temperature, judging the temperature by the feel, and judging the quality of the flower color and aroma by the senses. The finished Huangshan Gong chrysanthemum flowers are better than "white color, green color, small flower heart, soft quality, aromatic atmosphere, uniform and not scattered".
On November 11, the villagers of Jinzhu Village, Bei'an Town, She County, Anhui Province, were checking the baking effect of Huangshan Gongju. Photo by Zhang Qiang
Making a cup of Huangshan Gongju tea in the afternoon is the "opening way" of many Huizhou people in winter. The color of Huangshan Gongju tea soup is clear and crystalline, slightly light yellow, clear and free of impurities. Taste it carefully, the taste is smooth, there is a light sweetness and sweetness, and the aroma is elegant and natural.
"Huangshan accounts for three of the four famous teas in China, but I prefer Huangshan Gongju." Tangyue Village in Shexian County is the first "overseas Chinese village" in southern Anhui, Zheng Shifu, a villager who has been adrift overseas for many years, said that a cup of Huangshan Gongju is the most relieving of homesickness, and every time he returns to his hometown, overseas friends will ask him to "buy" some Huangshan Gongju.
In addition to brewing alone, Huangshan Gongju is also a "wild king", which can be matched with other edible and medicinal materials such as wolfberry, red dates, and honeysuckle. Today, Huangshan Gongju has been widely used in more than 90 products in the categories of medicine, food, health care products, etc., including chrysanthemum placenta capsules, Gongju loquat tea, Gongju Ejiao cake, Gongju flower cake, etc.
The homology of medicine and food is the biggest feature of Huangshan Gongju. As an authentic medicinal material, it has a variety of pharmacological effects and health preservation values such as dispelling wind and heat dissipation, cooling and detoxifying, nourishing the liver and brightening the eyes. Xin'an medicine, rooted in Hui culture, began in the Song Dynasty and has been passed down to the present, and many of its classic health prescriptions are used in Huangshan Gongju as medicine.
"Xin'an Medicine's Sangju Drink and Wuwei Disinfection Drink are all commonly used classic prescriptions in traditional Chinese medicine, and chrysanthemum is one of the main medicines." Wang Qi told reporters that long-term clinical findings of traditional Chinese medicine have shown that Huangshan Gongju can not only calm the liver, clear the liver, but also nourish the liver.
On November 11, the Huangshan Gongju in Jinzhu Village, Bei'an Town, She County, Anhui Province, was in full bloom. Photo by Zhang Qiang
Winter is Wu Yayu's busiest season. He is the president of the Huangshan Gongju Industry Association in She County, and the person in charge of the Yashi Tea Chrysanthemum Refining Factory in She County.
As the political, economic and cultural center of ancient Huizhou, Shexian County is the distribution center of Huizhou merchants, and Huangshan Gongju is also sold to various places. According to Wu Yayu, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Huizhou merchants transported Huangshan Gongju to Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions through the Huizhou Ancient Road or along the Xin'an River, and then distributed them to all parts of China, and some were exported overseas through coastal cities.
"In the past, the transportation conditions were poor, the time was long, and there was no cold chain preservation technology, so the Hui merchants pressed the dry tribute chrysanthemum into chrysanthemum bricks, wrapped them in oil paper, and then surrounded them with lime to play the role of freshness and moisture-proof." Wu Yayu said, "Huangshan Gongju has also been very popular in overseas markets in recent years, and our export products are mainly sold to Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries and regions. (ENDS)