By CGTN’s Xu Zhengyin, Min-Zhui Lee
Looking for a date? Well, you’re in luck. Just go to any grocery store in China, and chances are, there will be rows and rows of prettily plastic-packed red dates ready for your consumption.
Jingxin temple in Taigu / CGTN Picture
Red dates in autumn / CGTN Picture
Or head to a place like Taigu County in Shanxi Province, one of the nation’s red-date capitals. The leafy trees are everywhere – in autumn, stop on the side of the road, and shake them down for some fresh, organic crunch.
Freshly harvested red dates / CGTN Picture
Though it’s a small agrarian county in northern China, Taigu’s annual yield has been reported to be 50,000 tonnes – that’s roughly 35 grams of fresh, Taigu red dates for each person on the Chinese mainland.
A red date processing plant / CGTN Picture
Also known as jujubes or hongzao in Mandarin, these crunchy, seeded fruits have been grown in China for 4,000 years.
Red dates being washed disinfected / CGTN Picture
They are consumed fresh – which is when they contain around 20 times the amount of Vitamin C of any citrus fruit. But they are more popular as a candied dried snack. They can also be used in cooking, or made into juice and vinegar.
In traditional Chinese medicine, dates also have a reputation as a “cure all.” Dates are believed to have anti-fungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
In Chinese wedding culture, red dates (as well as longans, chestnuts and peanuts) are often placed in the newlywed’s bedroom as a fertility charm.
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