The hotter the weather, the sweeter the lotus seeds

Every August is the peak harvest season for lotus seeds in Liye Village, Daciyan Town, Jiande, Hangzhou. The lotus seeds here are popular among consumers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces due to their “white and clean color, easy steaming and ripening, and crispy and delicious taste”, hence they are called “Jiandeli Ye Bai Lian”.

The cultivation of lotus seeds in Liye dates back to the Tang Dynasty and has a history of over 800 years. Now the whole Daciyan is the main lotus seed production area in Zhejiang Province. The lotus seed planting area is more than 8000 mu, and almost every family has lotus fields.

In recent years, with the development of lotus seed wine, fruit lotus, lotus core tea, Lotus tea, lotus root powder and other products, “inner leaf white lotus” is developing into diversified products, with an annual output value of nearly 100 million yuan, and farmers’ income will also increase.

In the past Qixi Festival, in addition to the warm roses, Hangzhou girls also received unique lotus bouquets. The lotus in this bouquet of love flowers is highly likely to have been picked from the lotus field in Liye Village that day.

Zhao Guojun is a lotus farmer in Liye Village. He wakes up early every day to collect his own lotus fields and then goes to help wealthy families collect them. As fast as 10 minutes, and as slow as half an hour, Zhao Guojun’s shoulder pocket was filled with lotus flowers and lotus seeds. According to the customer’s requirements, the lotus pole is kept the longest, and the fresh lotus seed is kept more than 10 centimeters.

This year, the purchase price for lotus is 1 yuan per stick, 1.5 yuan per fresh lotus seed, and 55 yuan per kilogram of dried lotus seeds. After picking the lotus, it can grow again in half a month. It takes one month to wait for the Lotus Seed Elder. Selling lotus and lotus seeds has a short cycle and relatively high profits. The choice depends on the individual.

Ye Jianlin was the first person in Liye Village to sell fresh lotus seeds to Hangzhou. In 1995, the purchase price of a fresh lotus seed was 20 cents, and the old leaves were sold to vendors for a penny more. At most, they could sell several thousand pieces per day. He quietly went to the West Lake to see the vendors selling 40 cents each.