Everyone in Jiangmen knows that the longer Chenpi is stored, the higher its value. Old Chenpi stored for decades now sells for tens of thousands of yuan per jin. Chenpi aged between 30 and 70 years can still often be seen in some local Chenpi shops in Xinhui, but Chenpi over a hundred years old is very rare.

Recently, in the Beijing Satellite TV health program "Revealing the Century-old Chenpi in the Forbidden City," former researcher Yuan Hongqi of the Palace Museum recounted seeing century-old Xinhui Chenpi in the Beijing Forbidden City. At that time, it was one of the medicinal materials used in the imperial court, stored in the medicinal materials and tools warehouse alongside rare materials like rhinoceros horn, bezoar, dog treasure, and monkey treasure. It shows that Xinhui Chenpi was already regarded as a precious imperial medicinal material a hundred years ago and is still preserved as a cultural relic in the Forbidden City today.

△Record of Chenpi in the Ming Dynasty's Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica." The Ming Dynasty's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Tangerine peel has coarse texture, is yellow and thick, with many white membranes inside, its taste is pungent and sweet. Today, the best is considered to be that harvested from Guangzhong." The "Guangzhong" mentioned refers to present-day Xinhui. Xinhui Chenpi has high medicinal value and wide application, being the foremost among "harmonizing medicines," highly praised by generations of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. (Reference image)

The "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Tangerine peel, the best comes from Huixian, aged three years it tastes juicy; bitter can purge and dry, pungent can disperse, warm can harmonize." Tangerine peel, the predecessor of Chenpi, after specialized processing techniques becomes Chenpi. The best comes from Huixian, meaning Chenpi produced in Xinhui is the best. Chenpi aged over three years can release its unique fragrance and better exert its medicinal effects. Therefore, many people in Guangdong like to add a little Chenpi when making soup, not only for flavor but also to promote Qi circulation and dry dampness to resolve phlegm.

Xinhui is the authentic production area of Chenpi, with a long planting history tracing back to the Song Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, Xinhui Chenpi was even presented as a tribute to the imperial court in Beijing. The famous physician Ye Gui (courtesy name Tianshi) prescribed the "Erchen Decoction" for the emperor and concubines to treat wind-cold illnesses, specifically requiring "Xinhui peel." Emperor Kangxi inscribed a plaque "Number One Under Heaven" to honor him, and Empress Dowager Cixi designated "Xinhui Chenpi" as a tribute. Since the establishment of the Beijing Xinhui Guild Hall in the third year of Xianfeng (1853) (now No. 115 Fenfang Liuli Street, Xicheng District, preserved due to Liang Qichao's residence and reform efforts), generations of Xinhui people in Beijing have inherited the authentic skills of selecting and processing imperial-grade Chenpi. The culture of Xinhui tangerines and Chenpi has deeply integrated into local life, with rich experience in planting Xinhui tangerines.

Chenpi from Jiangmen Xinhui,

is not only a culinary ingredient but also a precious medicinal material,

The older the Chenpi, the more valuable it becomes,

The saying "one liang of Chenpi equals one liang of gold" is not an empty boast.

Recently, a relevant person in charge of the Beijing Wuyi Association visited former Palace Museum researcher Yuan Hongqi to further understand the century-old Xinhui Chenpi in the Forbidden City.

Yuan Hongqi stated that besides medicinal use, Xinhui Chenpi was also added to many dishes in the imperial kitchen. She specifically introduced that the sour plum soup used in the palace during summer must include Chenpi. The book "Research on Qing Palace Medical Cases" contains many recipes using Chenpi in the imperial court.

Huang Jianhua stated that next, the Beijing Wuyi Association will coordinate with the Palace Museum, the National Library, and other related institutions to deeply study the materials related to Chenpi in the Forbidden City, aiming to organize an exhibition of Forbidden City Chenpi in the near future.

It is worth mentioning that in June 2021, the State Council announced the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects (a total of 185 items) and the extended list of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects (a total of 140 items). Among them, the Xinhui Chenpi processing technique recommended by Jiangmen City was included as one of the extended projects of traditional Chinese medicine processing techniques in the national intangible cultural heritage representative projects extended list.

Let's learn about the Xinhui Chenpi processing technique.

The Xinhui Chenpi processing technique is a traditional medicinal material processing skill passed down for hundreds of years among the folk in Xinhui District, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. It carefully processes the local specialty Xinhui tangerine through peeling, drying, aging, and other procedures to produce "Xinhui Chenpi" for medicinal use and daily cooking. Xinhui Chenpi is one of Guangdong's top ten southern medicines and became one of the first batch of Lingnan Chinese medicinal materials legally protected in Guangdong Province in 2016. Its medicinal functions are recorded in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and "Chinese Medicine Handbook," including regulating Qi, strengthening the spleen, drying dampness, and resolving phlegm.

The Xinhui Chenpi processing procedure includes picking, peeling, reversing the peel, flipping the peel, drying, and aging: picking the peel at three stages when the color is greenish, slightly red, and bright red; washing and peeling using the "two-knife method" or "three-knife method," with shallow, slow, and gentle cuts when starting, deep, steady, and fast when cutting, and shallow, light, and slow when finishing, leaving the fruit stalk connected and peeling evenly into three sections; the peeled peel is dried in the shade for 6 hours until soft, then quickly reversed by hand; after semi-drying in the sun, the peel is flipped, and when dried hard, it is collected; storage and aging require strict control of temperature and humidity, using burlap or straw mat bags for packaging, stacking with "no contact with the ground, walls, or ceiling," and new peel less than three years old must be sun-dried for 5-6 hours on sunny days from June to November and stored for aging from November to May of the following year. This cycle repeats for three years to become Xinhui Chenpi.

The carefully processed Xinhui Chenpi has high medicinal value and wide application. Old brands like Beijing Tongrentang and Guangdong Chen Liji use it as raw material to produce more than 50 varieties of Chinese patent medicines. In 2016, it became one of the first batch of Lingnan Chinese medicinal materials legally protected in Guangdong Province.

Xinhui Chenpi is awesome,

If you want to learn more about Xinhui Chenpi,

purchase specialty Chenpi souvenirs,

and taste Chenpi delicacies,

the editor especially recommends the following two places.

Xinhui Chenpi Village is a characteristic industrial tourism complex. Its Chenpi Culture Experience Hall is the first multimedia experience hall for nationally recognized geographical indication products in China. It features Asia's largest intelligent glass screen, capable of displaying a 270-degree panoramic 3D effect of the tangerine tree growth process and Xinhui Chenpi processing. The hall also stores many precious Chenpi treasures of various ages, extremely valuable.

Arriving at one of the must-visit spots, the Chenpi Cultural Experience Hall, you can deeply understand the past and present of Chenpi culture. The entire Chenpi Cultural Experience Hall is divided into five main parts: the Origin Legend of Chenpi, the Chenpi Time Tunnel, the Bird Paradise Screening Room, the Chenpi Fragrance Area, and the Wuyi Cultural Interaction Hall. Entering through the "Bamboo Light Tunnel," visitors can marvel at the meticulous craftsmanship and unique designs while gaining a comprehensive understanding of Xinhui's Chenpi culture and historical heritage.

In addition, in the interactive experience hall, you can see century-old aged Chenpi and the "Chenpi Emperor" and "Chenpi Empress" from past Chenpi Cultural Festivals, truly feeling the "taste of time." There are also motion-sensing touch games here, allowing children to personally experience the fun of peeling and cooking Chenpi!

When visiting Chenpi Village, how could you miss the local Chenpi specialties? The village has a Chenpi trading market where you can buy authentic Chenpi sun-dried by villagers, handmade Chenpi tangerines, Chenpi candy, and the unique Chenpi wine of Xinhui Chenpi Village, all dazzling and fragrant.

Moreover, Chenpi Village in Xinhui has many food shops, such as Qiaoxiang Renjia and Hengyi Food, all offering authentic Chenpi banquets.

The Chenpi Ancient Road connects the first and second phases of the Ligong Xinhui Chenpi Modern Agricultural Industrial Park projects, including the "Chenpi Brand Collection," "Chenpi Health Pavilion," "Chenpi Museum," "Thousand-ton Chenpi Storage," and processing workshops. It features Chenpi historical and cultural displays, product research and development, processing and production, quality control, sightseeing shopping, tasting Chenpi cuisine, and Chenpi product processing experiences. It creates a new integrated model combining Xinhui citrus planting, food development, production and sales, and cultural tourism, showcasing the entire industrial chain of Xinhui Chenpi to the outside world and supporting the development of the Xinhui Chenpi industry.

The Chenpi Ancient Road has a three-story Xinhui Chenpi Cultural Museum that comprehensively introduces and displays Xinhui Chenpi and Ganpu tea culture to citizens and tourists through physical exhibits, sound, light, and video.

On the second floor of the Chenpi Ancient Road is Xinhui's first professional Chenpi restaurant—Ligong Chenpi Family Banquet, where you can taste authentic Chenpi cuisine. Let's go~