Where would the West’s multi-billion dollar health food industry be without Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region? One of China’s poorest provinces, Ningxia is mostly desert with huge areas of unpopulated, uninhabitable land. Yet the abundant irrigation that the Yellow River provides has given Ningxia one very important claim to fame – it is China’s largest exporter of one of the West’s most popular “superfoods,” the goji berry.
Also known as Chinese wolfberry, the goji is thought to be one of nature’s most nutrient-rich foods and is highly regarded in traditional Chinese medicine. It also holds an important place in the day-to-day Ningxia economy, with larger towns devoting dozens of shops to the sale of goji products, including wolfberry coffee, liquor, wine, dried fruit, tea, juice and tablets.
You name it, they’ve got it
We first came across the goji in the middle of picking season, back in August. Acres of bush about six feet high were laden with the little bright orange berry, and scores of mostly women and school-aged girls (with the occasional man) would spend hours hand-picking them and laying them out to dry, as seen in the picture at the top of the page.
Goji berries need to be hand-picked or shaken from the tree
Traditional Chinese medicine believes the goji berry can enhance immune system function, protect the liver, improve circulation and guard against cancers and Alzheimer’s disease. The berries and the sprouts are regularly drunk in tea or in soup, and dried goji berries are eaten raw much like sultanas or raisins. With the drying season over, large barrels of gojis now sit inside shops or outside in the sun.
Goin’ goji shoppin’
The health food industry of the west is now claiming the goji is one of the most nutritious food sources on earth, rich in antioxidants and full of essential amino acids, trace minerals, vitamins and other immune system fortifying elements.
So next time you go into a health food shop, check out the goji products, and spare a thought for the goji hand-pickers of Ningxia: producing 13 million kilograms a year is not a small accomplishment.
Ningxia’s wolfberry wine – You Goji, Girl!!
Maybe my memory can be saved yet , send me some Goji tea girl!!!!!
Love M
Hello Brendan and Emma,
Seems like a long way to communicate, but wanted to send a Christmas message and a Happy New Year. I’m kinda like your mother, That is I’ll be glad when your off of that wall so that we can see you. Tell Emma, I like her outfit better than yours; it’s brighter. Hope everything is going well, foot and all, and not too much winter for the walk. We try to keep track when ever we can to where you are at what you are seeing, the pictures are beautiful. A whole different world. We are all fine, Charles is having an operation Dec. 21st, we hope all goes well. It’s his Christmas present, haha. I talk to your mother alot on the phone, and enjoyed her visit here. Our Grandson is typing this for us. He’s been living with us since July, going to school and working. I wonder where you will be eating your Christmas dinner. Our family from Georgia will be here for Christmas… sometime. Cindy will come up, but Melanie might (?) later. It has been cold here, but that’s winter.
Love and wish you the best,
Charles & Pat Meek
Hi Emma and Brendan….my name will probably not ring a bell but we’ve actually met in Beijing at a dinner at Sky Stephen’s house. We’re her friends from the Philippines.
Anyway, all I want to say is that I envy you guys…I love walking but lately my job prevents me from pursuing my passion for it . The walking I get now is just “walking the mall”.
You guys take care. Merry Christmas.
I saw these little guys drying all over the place and never figured out what they were–thanks my sensais! ;~)
Now, if you could just enlighten me as to what sultanas are, then I’ll be right as rain…well, that might be stretching it a bit, but you know what I mean. :~)
These berries taste great too. My two year old loves them in her cereal every morning!
And Jamie, sultanas are like raisins, only a little sweeter.
Thanks Annabel, you saved me from having to admit that I didn’t know what the difference was between sultanas and raisins. Sounds like your two-year-old has good eating habits already!
Jamie, you right as rain now?
Mariesheil and Charles and Pat – thanks for visiting the site and leaving a message. Hope you all had a great Christmas. All the best for the new year.
Hi Brendan and Emma,
I thought you might be interested to know that the majority of the Ningxia Wolfberries are exported to a company named Young Living for one of their products which is the highest antioxidant drink known as Ningxia Red.
I am a distributor for Young Living so if you or anyone you know is interested in ordering a bottle of this amazing juice – Ningxia Red, please email me at andmin@yahoo.com or go directly to the website http://www.youngliving.com and follow the prompts. You will need my member number which is 833711 to order.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.
Andrew
Cool! It’s great to see how they actually grow and process goji. Thanks for showing us the great pics!
I strongly believe the Goji berries have been responsible for helping me clear up my tenis elbow. I have had nothing but issues with it for a long time.
Then after taking goji supplements for a while it started to go away with nothing else in my life changing other then that.