A famous specialty of Heilongjiang Province, these soybeans feature plump, round grains with thin, yellow skins rich in oil, protein and amino acids, boasting top-tier quality renowned domestically and internationally. They can be boiled directly into soups, and a wide range of processed soybean products deliver pure flavour, making them a staple delicacy for vegetarians. Large volumes are exported annually, serving as a key foreign exchange-earning commodity.

Nehe City is a renowned Hometown of Potatoes, producing one quarter of Heilongjiang’s total potato output. It maintains an annual planting area of 400,000 mu with an annual yield of over 500,000 tonnes. Its fresh potatoes, Snowflake brand potato starch and Gangjin brand vermicelli and sheet jelly have all obtained green food certification from the China Green Food Development Center.

Nehe has a temperate continental monsoon climate with an average annual temperature of 0.7°C. During the tuber formation period from June to August, the average temperature hits 19.7°C with rainfall of 300.8 millimetres, accounting for 67% of annual precipitation. Wide temperature fluctuations between day and night during this period greatly facilitate potato tuber expansion.

Nehe holds 4.5 million mu of cultivated land within one of the world’s three major black soil belts, where 90% of the soil is chernozem rich in organic matter. Over 80% of farmland is suitable for potato cultivation, with a regular annual planting area of around 40,000 hectares and a peak of 70,000 hectares, achieving an average yield of 22.5 tonnes per hectare. Favourable natural conditions have made Nehe a trial and demonstration base for new potato varieties for numerous agricultural research institutes, and high returns from new strains have boosted farmers’ willingness to grow potatoes. More than 20 potato varieties are currently cultivated across the city.

Though Nehe’s potato farming history is relatively short, it features vast, widely distributed plantations and farmers with extensive cultivation experience. It is also one of China’s earliest regions to produce virus-free seed potatoes, with farmers in specialized seed potato villages mastering advanced cultivation techniques. The local government attaches great importance to research and promotion of potato growing technology. In the mid-1990s, agricultural technicians developed the "Nehe Model" tailored to local conditions: harrow tillage, selective seed matching, virus-free seed potatoes, pregermination treatment, timely sowing, fertilization for full stands, late blight prevention and refined cultivation and harvesting.

For high-starch processing potatoes, Nehe’s agricultural research institutions began introducing and screening high-starch, high-yield varieties in the 1990s. Matching early, medium and late-maturing high-starch varieties allows staggered harvesting and extended processing cycles. Among introduced varieties, Yushu CA with a maximum starch content of 24% was selected for wide promotion, alongside Kexin No.13 with starch content 3 percentage points higher than mainstream varieties. Kexin No.13 now occupies around 30,000 hectares of annual planting area in Nehe, setting a national yield record of 3,850 kilograms per mu in 1998. To support industrial growth, technicians launched research and promotion of mechanized potato farming technology in 2000.

The protected administrative areas of 16 towns and townships under Nehe City, Heilongjiang Province: Nehe Town, Laha Town, Laolai Town, Longhe Town, Xuetian Town, Tongnan Town, Jiujing Town, Henan Town, Erkeqian Town, Changfa Town, Yimin Town, Tongyi Town, Tongxin Township, Hesheng Township, Xingwang Township and Kongguo Township.

A folk rhyme vividly describes Yi’an’s cream speckled kidney beans: "Cream speckled beans grow in Yi’an, pure colour and plump grain, Versatile uses and unmatched nutrition, Enriching merchants and farmers alike, Shipped to every corner of the globe."

In recent years, Yi’an County has prioritized developing cream speckled kidney beans — nutrient-dense, adaptable, widely used, marketable and highly profitable — as a core industry to boost farmers’ incomes and drive county economic growth. Guided by policy support, market demand and economic benefits, the industry has expanded steadily, with products exported to all five continents.

Thanks to unique soil and geographical conditions, Yi’an’s cream speckled kidney beans feature pure speckling, uniform grain shape, strong gloss and high protein content, enjoying robust demand and shortages in international markets with all output exported overseas. Eighty percent of total exports go to South Africa, Cuba, Kuwait, Indonesia and Pakistan, while 20% enter France and the United States. Yi’an has become a nationally renowned distribution hub for cream speckled kidney beans, ranking first in Heilongjiang for both production and export volume. South African merchants speak highly of Yi’an beans for their premium quality, great taste, attractive colour and stable supply. Today, Yi’an cream speckled kidney beans qualify for customs inspection exemption at Dalian, Tianjin and Weihai ports, and are the only kidney beans permitted for supermarket sales in France and the United States.

Fularji’s soil belongs to the temperate steppe type, featuring naturally fertile black soil rich in organic matter. Over ten soil types are distributed here, including meadow chernozem, carbonate meadow soil, alkalized meadow soil, floodplain meadow soil, meadow paddy soil and aeolian sandy soil, dominated by meadow chernozem and paddy soil characterized by high groundwater levels and sufficient subsoil moisture. Topsoil organic matter reaches 2.86%, with nitrogen content of 0.162%, phosphorus of 0.074% and potassium of 2.84%, forming water-retentive, fertile high-yield farmland.

What makes Fularji Warm Spring Rice particularly distinctive is its long history and well-established reputation. As early as the late Ming Dynasty, descendants of the Khitan people, the Daur ethnic group, settled along the fertile grassy banks of the Nenjiang River, pioneering original ecological rice cultivation amid vast grasslands teeming with livestock.

Warm spring rice boasts plump grains, crystal-clear polished rice, abundant nutrients, superior quality and excellent taste, winning unanimous praise from consumers. To date, Fularji Warm Spring Rice sells well across 78 cities including Sichuan, Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, and has been designated the official hospitality rice for government guesthouses by the Qiqihar Municipal Government.

Administrative jurisdiction of Gannan Town, Gannan County, Heilongjiang Province

Request for the Protection Scope of Geographical Indication Product "Black Soil Liquor" submitted by the People’s Government of Gannan County, Document No. Gan Zheng Cheng〔2012〕29 Corporate Standard of Heilongjiang Heicheng Liquor Industry Co., Ltd.: Q/HHJ01-2009 Black Soil Liquor