The specialty products in Xiangtan are renowned for their exquisite craftsmanship, intricate procedures, and meticulous ingredient selection. Every item is so delightful that it’s hard to put down and unforgettable.
"Long Brand Soy Sauce and Dengxin Cake; Ten-li lotus pond, hundred-li fragrance." This folk song perfectly captures Xiangtan’s specialties. The award-winning Long Brand Soy Sauce boasts a long history; the Dengxin Cake, invented by a filial son, embodies deep familial love; fragrant and slightly bitter white lotus seeds are celebrated far and wide; and the home-smoked fish, a favorite of Mao Zedong (known as “Mao’s Smoked Fish”), is easy to carry and an excellent gift.
Xiangtan Specialties
Xiangtan Long Brand Soy Sauce
Xiangtan Dengxin Cake
Lanling Tea
Crystal Sugar Xianglian (Lotus Seeds)
Yanglu Maojian Tea
Recommended Xiangtan Specialties
Three-Inch White Lotus Seeds
Huashi Town in Xiangtan County is China’s largest lotus seed distribution market, offering a wide variety of lotus seeds. The premium Three-Inch White Lotus Seeds are grown in Xiyangtang, Xiangtan.
Larger than ordinary lotus seeds, three seeds placed end to end measure exactly one inch. They are plump, round, fragrant, sweet, refreshing, heat-clearing, and highly nutritious.
湘潭三寸白莲子
Dengxin Cake
Thin as silk, like a lamp wick, white and smooth, it can be coiled into rings. It tastes sweet with a hint of spice, cool and refreshing. Eating one piece continuously takes exactly 24 hours to finish a whole box.
The cake is also flammable, releasing a sweet osmanthus fragrance when burned.
湘潭灯芯糕
Legend
Over 400 years ago, in Zhongchen Township, Xiangtan County, there lived a poor scholar named Yi Kui, who cared for his sick mother. At 17, he passed the xiucai exam but twice gave up the juren exam to nurse her.
At 28, his mother insisted he take the exam. After returning home, he found her unconscious, with a lamp wick in her mouth. In grief, he ground the only glutinous rice he had, mixed it with sugar, steamed it into white cakes, and cut them into lamp-wick-sized strips to feed her.
Soon, she woke up and recovered. Meanwhile, news arrived that Yi Kui had passed the exam—a double blessing. Dengxin Cake became popular in Zhongchen Township and later across the county, evolving into today’s delicacy.
Xiangtan Long Brand Soy Sauce
"A visit to Xiangtan without buying Long Brand Soy Sauce is not a real visit." This saying is no exaggeration. Xiangtan is known as the "Kingdom of Soy Sauce."
As early as 1915, Long Brand Soy Sauce won the Gold Medal at the Panama International Exposition, alongside Kweichow Moutai.
It features a rich aroma, umami taste, balanced saltiness and sweetness, and exceptional stability—no cloudiness, sediment, or mold even after long storage.

湘潭龙牌酱油
Yanglu Maojian Tea
A specialty of Yanglu Tea Plantation in Xiangtan County, it is one of Hunan’s four provincial famous teas.
Rich in protein, amino acids, and alkaloids, it offers multiple health benefits: quenching thirst, clearing heat, improving eyesight, refreshing the mind, aiding digestion, reducing greasiness, preventing atherosclerosis, fighting cancer, preventing scurvy, and resisting radiation.