宁夏 Níngxià Ningxia
The Yellow River at the foot of the Helan mountains.
History
Between the Ordos desert and the Helan mountains, the region owes its fertility to the Yellow River alone: its irrigation canals go back to the Han. The continental climate gives dry, luminous summers and cool nights, a swing the growers look for. Since the Ming, local registers describe gardens, slatted drying racks and fairs where the harvest was sorted by grade. 道地药材, the matter of the right ground, reads here as an agreement between water, sand and light.
GeographyA Yellow River plain backing on to the Helan mountains, between 1,100 and 1,200 metres, closed to the west by the Tengger desert. Dry continental climate: under 200 mm of rain a year, close to 3,000 hours of sun and cool summer nights.
Trading places
- 中宁 Zhongning A county of irrigated gardens on the bank of the Yellow River, whose registers have recorded sorting by grade and drying on racks since the Ming. Its name still serves as a reference on a bill of sale.
- 银川 Yinchuan Head placeHead town of the plain, where the caravans of the corridor and the river boats unloaded. Its trading houses kept the accounts of the harvest for much of the north-west.
- 中卫 Zhongwei A ford town on the river at the edge of the Tengger desert, where convoys changed their teams. Its courtyards served as drying floors in the good season.
Plants of the catalogue
Goji berries枸杞子 · Gou Qi ZiFrom 6,80 €
Zhongning, au Ningxia, est le terroir de référence depuis les Ming ; Jingyuan au Gansu et le bassin de Nuomuhong au Qinghai suivent.
Honey-prepared liquorice炙甘草 · Zhi Gan Cao7,80 €
Même réglisse des steppes de l’Ouest, grillée au miel selon l’usage.
Liquorice (raw)甘草 · Gan Cao6,80 €
La liang wai gan cao de la bannière de Hanggin, en Mongolie-Intérieure, est la réglisse de référence ; Minqin au Gansu suit.
