Tourists pose for a picture on a daylily farm in Yunzhou district in Datong. [Photo by Wang Zhongxun for China Daily]

A sending-off ceremony was held for the very first overseas shipment of fresh daylily flowers from the county of Tianzhen in the northern Shanxi city of Datong to Canada in late February.

A total of 3.73 metric tons of daylilies were sent to Canada, and officials hope that trading overseas will become more commonplace for daylily growers located in and around the city of Datong－a historical hub of the daylily industry.

Daylilies, which are also known as yellow flowers or golden needle vegetables in China, are a popular food ingredient nationally. It is also sought after in Chinese communities in regions like North America and Europe.

Datong has a history of growing daylilies that dates back 600 years. It is among the top four production bases for the herb in China. According to the Datong government, the city's planting area of the crop now accounts for about one-fourth of the country's total. 

The daylily products from the city are renowned for their quality, thanks to local farmers' experience and the unique soil, sunlight and irrigation conditions. 

Yunzhou district is the most important daylily industry base in Datong. It has an extended daylily-related industrial chain that covers plantation, processing, logistics, sales and farming-themed sightseeing. 

In recent years, the local daylily industry has expanded substantially due to authorities' efforts to drive modernization, promote branding and increase planting areas. 

Local statistics show that the total planting area of daylilies in Datong reached nearly 18,000 hectares last year, and had an annual output of 141,000 tons. In comparison, the growing area was only about 1,000 hectares in 2010.

The entire industrial chain, ranging from farming and processing to sales, generated a total revenue of 3.03 billion yuan ($476.3 million) in 2021, ranking first in China.

The city has 175 companies in the daylily industry. The companies have developed more than 100 product varieties from daylily flowers, including food ingredients, beverages, health food and cosmetics.

Local officials predicted that total annual revenue of the city's daylily industrial chain is expected to reach 10 billion yuan by 2025. To help to realize this target, a modern, national-level daylily industrial park is under construction to attract enterprises in farming, processing, research and development, sales and logistics.

Han Linfang contributed to this story.