In the golden autumn, when you step into Xianning, Hubei Province, the sweet scent of cinnamon lingers in the streets and lanes, attracting tourists from all over the world. Appreciating osmanthus gardens, tasting osmanthus tea and drinking mellow brew, shopping for cultural and creative goods... The small osmanthus flowers connect multiple business formats such as tourism, cultural tourism, processing, and scientific and technological innovation, injecting new momentum into the vigorous development of Xianning's "beautiful economy".
In Guguiyuan, Guihua Town, Xian'an District, the cinnamon scent lingers in the forest, the music of the piano is melodious, the Osmanthus Fairy dances gracefully, Guixiang folk songs are sung, ancient mooncake making and other special performances are staged, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in Xianning's rich Guixiang folk customs.
Beat (pick) sweet-scented osmanthus. Photo by Chen Hongju
Ancient Guiyuan is located in Baidun Village, Guihua Town, Xian'an District. It is home to the largest group of ancient Guiyuan in the country, with a core scenic area of about 800 acres. There are more than 2,000 osmanthus trees in the park that are 50 to 100 years old, and 576 ancient osmanthus trees that are over a century old. The oldest osmanthus tree is over 800 years old. It is a unique treasure of osmanthus ecological resources in Xianning.
Guihua Town is the core osmanthus production area in Xianning. At the standardized osmanthus purchasing point in Baidun Village, the freshly picked golden osmanthus and silver osmanthus petals are full and bright, and the golden osmanthus gathers into the background of the harvest. The villagers who completed the sale received the proceeds with smiles on their faces.
"Our family has planted 80 acres of sweet-scented osmanthus. On the third day of picking this year, we have harvested more than 1,000 kilograms. We can harvest another 1,000 kilograms and earn several thousand yuan in the future." Villager Wang Xu said.
About 5 kilometers drive from Guguiyuan is Liujiaqiao Village, known as the "No. 1 Folk Village in Chutian". The village completely retains the traditional residential buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and has become a rural cultural and tourist attraction. A specialty shop located next to the business district of Liujiaqiao Village B&B. It is deeply involved in the Osmanthus Cultural and Creative Industry. Its self-created Liujiaqiao Osmanthus Cultural and Creative Ice Cream is widely favored by tourists. According to store owner Cheng Risheng, sales of this cultural and creative product have exceeded 20,000 since it was launched at the end of May. The store also sells various types of osmanthus-themed cultural and creative products, deeply integrating the characteristics of Guixiang and the ancient charm of the ancient village, becoming a popular business format that drives rural consumption.
In addition to flower appreciation, village tours and sightseeing, Xianning continues to extend the osmanthus industry chain and promote the upgrading of the osmanthus industry from tourism and cultural tourism to intensive processing. Entering Xianning Kaitai Liquor Co., Ltd., the company has just invested 600,000 yuan to complete the all-round upgrade of the factory area. The new cultural exhibition area systematically displays traditional cinnamon wine brewing techniques and cinnamon wine culture. The company has deeply explored the potential of integrating osmanthus with local rice wine, and innovatively developed a series of products such as osmanthus rice wine, osmanthus sake, osmanthus turbid rice wine, and osmanthus rice dew. It is expected that by 2026, 400,000 bottles of osmanthus rice wine will be produced, and two of the special osmanthus rice wines will be exported to overseas markets such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Osmanthus drying workshop. Photo by Hu Chuanlin
Not limited to the food and beverage track, Xianning continues to develop the scientific and technological innovation and deep processing of osmanthus, promoting the extension of the osmanthus industry from traditional consumption and ornamental to beauty, home furnishing, and general health fields. Two deep processing companies, including Wuhan Jingui Biotechnology and Tianxiang Guguizi (Xianning) Health Technology, use technology to upgrade the value of osmanthus, allowing the small osmanthus to release diversified industrial momentum.
In the Wuhan Jingui Biotechnology Exhibition Hall, there is a dazzling array of osmanthus essential oils, hydrosols, facial masks, aromatherapy, health care products and other products. According to company staff, the original purchase price of a ton of fresh osmanthus is about 20,000 yuan. After fine extraction and deep processing, the comprehensive value of derivative products such as essential oils, hydrosols, and enzyme solutions can be increased to 100,000 yuan. The company has innovated to realize the resource utilization of the whole Osmanthus fragrans plant. The petals, flowers and leaves, flower seeds and processing by-products can be developed and utilized. The flower residue can be used for secondary extraction of polypeptides and proteases, which are widely used in the production of skin care and cleaning products. At the same time, the company has overcome the technical difficulties of fresh osmanthus preservation and storage, and can retain the original aroma of fresh osmanthus for 2 to 3 years.
Osmanthus scientific innovation products. Photo by Hu Chuanlin
Tianxiang Guguizi (Xianning) Health Technology has embarked on the two-wheel-driven development path of "technical innovation + cultural creativity" to create a high-end osmanthus fragrance brand "Guguizi". The product line covers osmanthus essential oil perfume, aromatherapy, fragrance tablets, compound functional essential oils and other diversified categories. Relying on the two-way efforts of online live streaming and offline experience stores, Osmanthus fragrance products have successfully emerged from the industry and become a new business card for young consumers to "smell the fragrance and know Xianning".
A small sweet-scented osmanthus connects the entire chain of industries and activates the "beautiful economy" of Xianning. At present, Xianning's osmanthus industry has built a complete industrial chain from flower planting, tourism and cultural tourism, primary processing to technological innovation and deep processing. According to statistics, the annual output value of Xianning's osmanthus industry reaches 1.4 billion yuan, truly realizing the effective transformation of ecological beauty into economic output value, and achieving a win-win situation for ecological, economic and social benefits. (over)
