What Special Local Products Does Putian Have?

Putian has a long history of litchi cultivation dating back to the Tang Dynasty. In his Treatise on Litchis compiled during the Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Xiang wrote that the litchis produced in Xinghua were unparalleled. The fruit is sweet and juicy with a high proportion of small seeds. It quenches thirst and nourishes the human body. When Guo Moruo visited Putian in the early 1960s, he composed the famous line "Litchi trees grow everywhere throughout Litchi City" to praise the local produce. Fine varieties include Chenzi, Songjiaxiang and Zhuangyuanhong.

There are more than 100 varieties of loquats in Putian, chiefly Jiefangzhong, Changhong No.3, Puxuan No.1, Zaozhong No.6 and Baili. Putian loquats boast the largest single fruit weight nationwide; a Jiefangzhong loquat can weigh up to 172 grams, ranking first in the world. The region also boasts state-of-the-art planting techniques. Changtai Town, the core growing area, is known as "China’s Top Township for Loquats".

Putian honey pomelos, also known as Duwei Wendan Pomelos, are premium fruits valued both as food and herbal medicine. They were once presented as imperial tributes in the Qing Dynasty. The pomelos feature excellent quality, rich fragrance, tender flesh and mellow juice with a perfect balance of sweetness and sourness, delivering a unique flavor.

Dried Xinghua longans are processed and baked from fresh longans grown locally in Xinghua and are famous both at home and abroad. Rich in nutrients, they nourish blood, soothe nerves, tonify the heart and invigorate the spleen. They serve as an excellent tonic for people suffering from anaemia or poor health, as well as women recovering after childbirth. Dried longans made from the high-quality Wulongling variety are especially precious.

According to longan grades and sizes, dried Xinghua longans are sorted into five categories: Sanyuan, Siyuan, Wuyuan, Zhongyuan and Shazai.

The Putian black duck is an exclusive egg-laying breed native to Fujian Province. Lingchuan Township is recognized as the birthplace of this duck breed. They are widely raised along Putian’s coastal areas and the northern and southern coastal plains. The city now has a breeding stock of 350,000 adult ducks, with nearly 10 million ducklings produced annually. The ducklings are sold to Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hunan and other provinces and autonomous regions.

They have a slim build and move swiftly, with strong resistance to salinity and heat. They thrive when grazed on hard tidal beaches and have outstanding egg-laying performance. Each female duck lays 270 to 290 eggs a year, with an average egg weight of around 70 grams. Crossbreeds produced by mating white drakes with Putian female ducks produce fine meat-type hybrid ducks.

Main products include thin Xinghua rice noodles, silver-thread noodles, instant noodles and thick rice noodles. Xinghua rice noodles are as fine as silk and as white as silver. They taste delicious, keep well in storage and are easy to carry. Highly pliable, they can be boiled, stir-fried or deep-fried with distinctive local flavour. Ideal for daily home consumption and gifting, they are popular gifts for relatives and guests and sell well across the country and overseas.

The Putian black pig is a superior local breed in Fujian Province. It is mainly raised in Changtai, Huangshi, Hushi, Lingchuan, Wutang, Xitianwei, Lujiang, Hanjiang and suburban towns.

These pigs are highly adaptable, thrive on coarse fodder, grow fast, yield high lean meat and produce large litters. Sows show strong maternal instincts and strong resistance to heat and diseases. Adult boars weigh up to 175 kilograms, while sows reach 150 kilograms. Multiparous sows generally give birth to 10–12 piglets per litter, and sometimes more than 15. When crossbred with Landrace or Duroc boars, the hybrid offspring grow rapidly, fatten easily and produce high yields of tender lean meat. Therefore, the Putian black pig is an ideal female parent for developing hybrid vigour in Fujian’s pig breeding industry.

Chinese yam is a key local specialty of Guiping City, mainly cultivated in Jintian Town. Jink Chinese yam is renowned for its pure white colour, superior quality and high yield.

The tubers are long, snow-white with fine starchy texture and mild taste. Warm in nature, they can be used both as medicinal herbs and staple food ingredients.

In traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese yam tonifies the spleen and stomach, promotes fluid production to moisten the lungs, nourishes the kidneys and consolidates essence. It is prescribed for poor appetite caused by spleen deficiency, chronic diarrhoea, asthma due to lung weakness, spermatorrhea, leucorrhoea, frequent urination, deficiency heat and thirst. The nourishing herbal dessert made with Chinese yam sells very well in Hong Kong and Macau. Ground yam mixed with lotus seeds makes highly nutritious powder suitable for the elderly and infants.