Division 5.3 Causal link between the geographical area and a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product

Zhenjiang is located in the southeast of China and has a typical humid monsoon climate with a transition from a warm temperate zone to a subtropical zone. It lies at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, in a country side of low green hills, fertile farmland, an intricate river network, and large numbers of small islands and ports along the river. It abounds in such agricultural crops as rice, wheat, barley and green peas, with rich by-products such as wheat bran and rice husk. The fact that Zhenjiang is humid and green can be conducive to the yield and reproduction of acetic acid bacteria. Water from the hills and springs gathers in rivers, lakes and wetlands after flowing through stone and rock, resulting in a rich content of mineral materials and producing a strong and slightly sweet flavour, which is most suitable for brewing vinegar.

Zhenjiang City has long been known as the ‘City in the mountain forest and Home of Vinegar’. People in Zhenjiang started to make vinegar 1 400 years ago. The use of Zhenjiang Xiang Cu became established in the Liang Dynasty; it was regarded as the best rice vinegar in the early China Medicine Classics and won an international gold award in the Qing Dynasty. Zhenjiang Xiang Cu has become the city’s visiting card. There are almost 100 manufacturing plants producing vinegar in the city, where the fragrance of vinegar is in the air and vinegar-related eating habits and food culture can be seen everywhere.