Tianshui Apple Planting Area--Gansu

Tianshui, located in Gansu province, with an annual output apple of 100,000 tons, is one of 6 biggest best apple bases in China, Quality fruits and vegetables ,such as "Huaniu apple","Gangu pepper","Jingning Fuji ", "Qin’an golden delicious" are sold all over the country and world. Jingning Fuji apple, due to the local geographical environment, have became to the hi- grade apple in Fuji filed. Thousand tons of Jingning Fuji are sold to top markets in many countries every year.

Huaniu apple, the first international apple brand of China, has won many prizes in the national &international exhibitions. The huaniu apple is large, regular, tall, with five distinct points, bright red in colour (redness reaches 60-100%), and crisp and sweet. It has won a welcome from consumers at home and abroad, and become an item which sells readily in the international market. '

Huaniu apples are produced in Tianshui County by the Huaniuzhai Production Brigade. The brigade established their orchards on the hills in 1956, and introduced ten apple varieties, including: hongyuanshuai (red marshal), jinguan (golden crown), guoguang (national glory), wojin (Japanese brocade) and hongyu (red jade). In 1965 the first shipment of around one hundred cases of red marshal, about three thousand jin, was shipped to Hong Kong through the Tianjin Foreign Trading Corporation. In order to understand the trial sale process, the technicians wrote the two characters " 花牛 huaniu" in pencil on the top right hand corner of the packing cases as a mark. The shipment of apples was sold to a British trading house, which then on-sold them to an American trader. According to the Hong Kong papers, "In China's North-West is a 'Huaniu State' which grows top-quality 'Huaniu apples'. The quality is higher than that of America's elite apple - and it has also beaten the famous-name apples of every other country." At that time in the comparative assessment of the Hong Kong market, China's 'Huaniu' apples were the best in the world and had carried off the elite label. After the 'Huaniu' red marshals had entered the international market in 1965 and been valued highly, China formally used 'Huaniu' as a trademark and Huaniu apples became known throughout the world.