"Chinese Cultivation of Goji Berries"

The majority of commercially produced goji berries come from the Ningxia Hui Region, located in north-central China, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Region of western China. In Zhongning County, Ningxia, goji berry plantations typically range between 100 and 1000 acres (or 500-6000 mu) in area. As of 2005, over 2 million acres have been planted with goji berries in Ningxia.

Cultivated along the fertile floodplains of the Yellow River for more than 6000 years, Ningxia goji berries have earned a reputation throughout Asia for premium quality, often described commercially as "red diamonds." Government releases of annual goji berry production, premium fruit grades, and export are based on yields from Ningxia, the region recognized with:

• The largest annual harvest in China, accounting for 42% (13 million kg, 2001) of the nation's total yield of goji berries, estimated at approximately 33 million kg (72 million lb) in 2001.
  
  
• An industrial association of growers, processors, marketers, and scholars of goji berry cultivation to promote the berry's commercial and export potential.
  
  
• The nation's only source of therapeutic grade goji berries used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.

In addition, large volumes of goji berries grow in the Chinese regions of Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Hebei. When ripe, the berries are tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into trays to avoid bruising. The fruits are preserved by drying them in full sun on open trays.

As Ningxia's borders merge with three deserts, goji berries are also planted to prevent erosion and reclaim soils from desertification.

Goji berries are celebrated each August in Ningxia with an annual festival coinciding with the berry harvest. Originally held in Ningxia's capital, Yinchuan, the festival has been based since 2000 in Zhongning County, an important center of goji berry cultivation for the region.