Basic Introduction to Qingjian Chinese Dates
A popular folk saying in Northern Shaanxi goes: Yulin's water, Jia County's mountains, Qingjian's Chinese dates, and Shenmu's coal.
In Northern Shaanxi, which is renowned for its high-quality Chinese dates, only “Qingjian Chinese Dates” enjoy a unique reputation, being mentioned alongside Yulin's peach blossom water, the Daoist holy site of Baima Temple on Mount Baiyun in Jia County, and Shenmu coal, demonstrating their status as top-tier dates that are highly favored by people. In fact, Qingjian Chinese Dates are not just famous in Northern Shaanxi. As early as 1968, Hong Kong compatriots specifically wrote to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao Zedong requesting to purchase and consume “Qingjian Chinese Dates from the former Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region,” which became a well-known story. This event further confirms that Qingjian Chinese Dates indeed have a widespread aroma and global fame.
Nutritional Value
In modern Traditional Chinese Medicine, jujubes (Chinese dates) are primarily used to treat conditions such as thinness and weakness caused by spleen and stomach deficiency, reduced appetite, and loose stools. Folk remedies using jujubes for pallor and emaciation, poor appetite, and indigestion have proven effective. The use of jujubes in traditional Chinese medicine for healing purposes has a long history. As early as in the “Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica,” jujubes were listed as a superior product with the benefits of tonifying qi and strengthening the spleen. “Compendium of Materia Medica” further points out that jujubes are the fruit of the spleen, and those with spleen deficiency should eat them most.
Regular consumption of jujubes can increase body weight and muscle strength in animals. Many ancient medical texts point out that jujubes have blood-nourishing effects, and almost all Chinese herbal formulas for nourishing blood and qi include jujubes. Therefore, eating jujubes can be very helpful for people with anemia and malnutrition.
Product Characteristics
Qingjian Chinese Dates are naturally large jujubes found in a rare geographical environment in China. They are large, have thin skin, thick flesh, small seeds, and are sweet and refreshing, with soluble sugar, vitamin, and starch content much higher than in other places.
History and Folk Customs
The cultivation of Chinese dates in Qingjian County has a 4,000-year history, evidenced by the thousand-year-old jujube forest in the ancient town of Laoshuge in Wangsulǐ Village. Qingjian County is located at the center of the Yellow River jujube production area and is widely recognized as an optimal location for growing jujubes, mainly distributed along the Yellow River and Wuding River. According to statistics from 2002, the cultivated area of Chinese dates reached 395,000 mu, with an annual output of over 56,000 tons and a value of 168 million yuan. In 1995, it was named “China's Jujube Hometown” by the Ministry of Agriculture. As early as 1968, compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao wrote to the central party leadership and Chairman Mao Zedong, specifically requesting to eat “Qingjian Chinese Dates from the former Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region,” which became a well-known story.
Tasting and Eating Methods for Qingjian Chinese Dates
Jujubes have liver-protective effects and can increase serum total protein and albumin levels. In folk remedies, 250 grams of jujubes and 60 grams of herbaceous false morel are boiled together, and the jujubes are eaten while the broth is drunk, taken in two doses in the morning and evening, for treating jaundice hepatitis.
Patients with arteriosclerosis and hypertension should preferably eat fresh jujubes or boil jujubes with celery roots for consumption.
People who are prone to colds due to physical weakness will find it helpful to regularly eat some jujubes to enhance their resistance!