Remarkable Shandong | Harvesting tall scallions in Zhangqiu

In early November of this year, the scallion cultivated by farmer Song Guangbao reached a height of 2.586 meters, earning him the title of "Scallion King of Zhangqiu". This surpasses the Guinness World Record for the longest scallion set in 2020. Song is busy working in his fields these days. Let's give him a hand.

When you pull it, you need to exert even pressure and avoid swaying back and forth. 

So, what should I do？ 

You should gradually and evenly apply force.

And then lift upwards.

Alvin Kung: As you can see right now, I am trying to pull out the scallion. Guys, can you believe that? This scallion is even taller than me. Let’s take its measurement. 

How tall is it?

A little over two meters.

The measurement is 2.1 meters. 

Can you explain to us why it can grow so tall?

Alvin Kung：Right, the farmer told me that the scallions here are a local variety called “Da Wu Tong”, which is unique to Zhangqiu in Shandong. You can call it in English “Big phoenix tree”. Although it doesn’t have any relations to the phoenix tree, it’s just called that way, named that way. The variety here naturally grows tall and its taste is crispy and sweet.

The farmer told me that, in addition to the variety, he also has developed special cultivation methods, which are digging the furrows a bit deeper and mounding the soil a bit higher.

With a cultivation history of over two thousand years, Shandong's Zhangqiu scallion possess unique qualities of being tall, large, crisp, white, and sweet. In 2017, the cultivation system of Zhangqiu scallion was included in China's important agricultural cultural heritage list. In recent years, the influence of Zhangqiu scallion has been steadily rising, earning recognition as a "Famous Agricultural Product in China" and being listed in the first batch of the "Remarkable Shandong" brand directory.

Kong Chuidi for Shandian News