Now is the golden season for sweet potato harvesting. The fields of Linshu County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, are bustling with activity. Villagers are seizing the time to dig up sweet potatoes, and plump, reddish potatoes are emerging from the soil. Farmers, with smiling faces, are meticulously sorting and packing the freshly harvested sweet potatoes, painting a vibrant picture of a bountiful harvest.

Linshu County has a long history of sweet potato cultivation. According to the Linshu County Annals, in 1949, the county cultivated 119,400 mu (approximately 7,960 hectares) of sweet potatoes, with a yield of 165 jin (82.5 kg) of dried sweet potatoes per mu. Located in the southern part of the Ludong Hilly Area, Linshu enjoys a warm temperate monsoon climate with semi-humid continental conditions. The distinct seasons, warm spring with ample sunlight, hot and humid summer with abundant rainfall, and cool autumn, combined with deep, loose soil, make it an ideal region for sweet potato cultivation.

Thanks to its unique climate and geographical advantages, Linshu produces sweet potatoes of moderate size, smooth skin, and fine texture. The skin ranges from purplish-red to yellow, while the flesh varies from yellow to orange-red or red. Rich in protein, starch, selenium, and other nutrients, these sweet potatoes become fragrant, sweet, soft, and sticky when roasted or processed, making them highly popular among food enthusiasts.

In Linshu, visitors can indulge in a full sweet potato feast, featuring boiled sweet potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet potato chips, sweet potato pancakes, sweet potato porridge, and more. Each dish, meticulously prepared from sweet potatoes, is a mouthwatering delight. Additionally, locals use traditional methods to produce sweet potato noodles and sheets, sell roasted sweet potatoes and baked sweet potato pancakes as packaged tourist products. Many young villagers have also acquired new sweet potato processing techniques through external training, launching popular products such as sweet potato pastries, fries, and sweet potato milk tea.

Over the years, Linshu County has leveraged its resource advantages to vigorously develop the sweet potato industry. By focusing on building, supplementing, strengthening, and extending the industrial chain, the county has driven the transformation and upgrading of the entire processing industrial chain for distinctive agricultural products. It has established a sweet potato industrial cluster comprising over 30 companies engaged in planting, processing, and sales, such as Shandong Huaqiang Agricultural Technology Company, Linshu County Runyu Food Co., Ltd., Jinfeng Commune, and Shandong Jinshudi Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. In addition to traditional products like noodles, sheets, and starch, the county continues to develop high-tech, high-value-added modified starch products, including convenience foods, fast food, semi-finished products, and kitchen ingredients. Sweet potato brands like “Qianjinshu” and “Jitang Noodles” have gained significant recognition, with products exported to Japan, South Korea, and other regions.

The sweet potato planting area in Linshu remains stable at over 150,000 mu (10,000 hectares) annually, with a total yearly output exceeding 500,000 tons and a per-mu output value of more than 4,800 yuan. “Linshu Sweet Potato” has become a renowned regional brand and successfully obtained national geographical indication certification for agricultural products in 2017, further enhancing its golden reputation.