Guangzhou Part 11 - 新会陈皮 (Xin Hui Orange Peel)

Guangzhou city of 新会 is famous for 陈皮 (citrus orange peel). When I was a small child, my grandmother used to prepare orange peel through drying . The local orange is however not the same species as the 陈皮 of 新会. As a young boy, I was always wondering what my grandmother was doing.

There was a story that a Southern Chinese had won the praises of a China Empress through the use of orange peel from 新会 as a medical treatment for the Empress sickness. Upon consuming the product, the Empress sickness has improved. This event created a demand and agricultural expansion for growth of this special orange called 茶枝柑。

陈皮 is a famous product in Guangzhou. Even the local museum has a preserved specimen of this orange. According to the display, "the drug (陈皮) is used for moving qi (the inner energy), fortifying the stomach, drying dampness, resolving phlegm, down bearing qi and reliving vomiting."

陈皮 specimen in Guangzhou Museum

The local supermarkets have this product easy available.

The citrus peel or 陈皮 available in a Guangzhou supermarket (right cabinet)

I have chronic sinus problems for many years. My nose would get infected easily and there would be nasal discharge due to the mucus produced. This mucus would drain down my throat causing irritation and cough. Normally, I would need anti-histamine and anti-biotic to treat this illness. However, recently, I found that common antibiotics is of not much effectiveness, probably due to resistance from the bacteria causing the infection.

On the last second day prior to my departure from Guangzhou, I made an impromptu stopover at 体育西路 station, just a station before the station of my hotel. There is an Aeon supermarket just next to the station. I was just casually looking around when out of a sudden, a local lady was speaking to 2 Asians. From the conversation, the local lady who was speaking in Cantonese, vouched to the 2 Asians that the 陈皮 displayed at the shelve was a very good product and solved her sore throat ailment for many years. The 2 Asians, a young gentlemen from Thailand and his girlfriend from South Korea, was replying that they are looking for a gift to buy for their parents. He was replying in mandarin (Thai Chinese). In the end, I bought a bottle of the 陈皮 with some skepticism. From an after thought, it was quite an unique situation; a local Guangzhou resident speaking to a couple of Thai and South Korean, with me (another foreigner) purchasing the product.

To my pleasant surprise, the 陈皮 is good in treating my cough. My nose is still infected, but it soothes the throat and reduce irritation of the throat. There is less cough and phlegm. Being a natural product, it should not have side effects if there is no over-consumption. A piece of the 陈皮 a day is sufficient for its medicinal properties to take effect. Do note that this is an authentic aged 陈皮.  A highly recommended product for a person who has ENT ailment. Just hope that I could buy another bottle.