Intangible cultural heritages around the Great Wall | Aromatic oak leaves

It is a good time to pick po luo ye (oriental white oak leaves) along the Great Wall; on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival. In Qinhuangdao, many villages around the Great Wall have preserved the tradition of eating cakes wrapped in oriental white oak leaves.

The legend has it that four hundred years ago, national hero Qi Jiguang, an anti-Japanese general in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), led his army to station at the foot of the Great Wall to guard the border passes. Because the southern China soldiers were unable to get accustomed to the local food, local people, who wanted to see Qi's army well fed, went up the mountains to pick oak leaves and use them to wrap the dumpling fillings so that the fragrance of the leaf was well blended with the taste of the fillings. After being steamed, the dumpling becomes a kind of portable cake with recipes passed down through generations. Now, the oakleaf cake, as part of the intangible cultural heritage of Qinhuangdao, has become a well-known local snack that has been handed down from far back in history.

As a gift from nature and thanks to the innovation of craftsmanship, oakleaf cake has turned into a delicacy served on the tables of many restaurants. Small workshops have been developed into modern factories and the fragrance of the cake is taking wing to spread far and wide.