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Xinhui, the province of China where tangerine peels cost $9,650

2025-01-22 12:59:00, Kuriozitete CNA

Xinhui, the province of China where tangerine peels cost $9,650

Xinhui is considered the sleepy district in a "third-tier" city in China.

Yet every year, during the autumn and winter months, its streets are filled with a unique scent that hints at its ancient history, and a bright future: the drying of tangerine peels, or chenpi. To residents, it is the smell of gold.

In fact, the word for “mandarin” in Cantonese, the local dialect, is pronounced the same as the word for “gold.” And just like the precious metal, some of those peels can be worth large sums of money.

Mandarin peels can only be called "chenpi" (old peels, which are scientifically known as Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium) if they have been dried in the sun every fall and winter, consecutively, for at least three years.

Chenpi was said to have been used in dishes served to emperors and empresses living within Beijing's Forbidden City. Today, the ingredient is found primarily in traditional medicinal recipes and everyday cooking, especially in southern China.

Different types and ages of chenpi have different medicinal uses, but in traditional Chinese medicine they are generally believed to strengthen the spleen, aid in digestion, and improve the respiratory system.

Modern research suggests that chenpi boasts anti-oxidants and flavonoids (a cancer-fighting compound) and has the potential to stabilize blood pressure and prevent obesity. And like fine wine, the older the chenpi, the more precious it becomes.

In 2023, a kilogram of dried mandarin peels produced in 1968 sold for HKD 75,000 ($9,646) at an auction in Hong Kong. That same year, Xinhui became the first and only district in Jiangmen to collect 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion), accounting for about a quarter of the city's GDP. The chenpi industry was valued at RMB 23 billion ($3.2 billion) last year.

The city has developed so much thanks to mandarin peels, which now produce and buy about 163 tons per year./ CNA





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