Rongcheng green asparagus, a specialty of Rongcheng County, Hebei Province, is a national geographical indication product of China. Rongcheng County is the third in China, hebei first green asparagus planting base, large output, good quality, has "bamboo shoot body complete, straight throughout, color all green, fine and soft texture, crisp taste, flavor and fragrance" characteristics, is excellent green healthy vegetables and export foreign exchange earners.
The edible part of Rongcheng green asparagus is its young stem, which is extracted from the underground stem in spring, the stem is tender and fat, the top bud is round, the scales are tight, and the color harvested before excavation is white and tender, called white asparagus; the young stem is green after seeing the light, called green asparagus. Green asparagus shoots are straight, emerald green in color, delicate in flesh, not scattered, no white roots. White asparagus is more canned, and green asparagus is served fresh. Asparagus is delicate in texture and rich in nutrients, and is a valuable vegetable. But asparagus is not the tender bud of a reed, but is named because of its shape like a spring shoot.
In 2003, Rongcheng Green Asparagus was rated as "Famous and Excellent Agricultural Products of Hebei Province" at the Langfang 10.18 Agricultural Exhibition. In 2004, Rongcheng County was named "The Hometown of Asparagus in Hebei" by the Department of Agriculture of Hebei Province, identified as one of the fifteen major vegetable counties in Hebei Province, and identified by the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China as a national-level demonstration area for the standardized production of green asparagus. In 2005, Rongcheng Green Asparagus obtained HACCP quality system certification. In 2007, Rongcheng County was rated as a national-level asparagus standardization science demonstration base in Baoding by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance. On October 31, 2008, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China approved the implementation of geographical indication product protection for "Rongcheng Green Asparagus". In 2009, the planting area of green asparagus in Rongcheng reached 4,000 hectares, becoming the third green asparagus planting base in China and the first in Hebei.