In Meinong District, Kaohsiung City, a crop as white and lustrous as jade spreads quietly across the alluvial fan plains each winter. Known as the White Jade Radish, it stands as a testament to the diligence and land wisdom of Hakka farmers. Local growers practice relay cropping: after the second rice harvest, they plant White Jade Radish so the fields never lie fallow through the cold months—a living expression of the philosophy that no land should go to waste. Clean water, ample sunshine, and loose, fertile sandy loam together nurture radishes of exceptional tenderness, making them the defining flavor of Hakka villages in the cold season.

The White Jade Radish is said to descend from a Japanese daikon variety introduced in the 1980s. Over decades of careful selection and cultivation, Meinong farmers developed local strains well-adapted to the climate of southern Taiwan. The radish is prized for its thin skin, refreshing crunch, and natural sweetness; braised low and slow, it turns meltingly soft. Versatile in the kitchen, it suits stir-fries, soups, steamed radish cake, and pickled vegetables alike. The most celebrated local preparation, however, is luobo feng—chunks of radish braised slowly in a savory sauce until sweet and yielding. For many in Meinong, it is the taste of home in winter.

White Jade Radish Festival: Radish-Pulling and Agricultural Education

The name “White Jade” speaks to more than appearance. The poet Yu Guangzhong, in a verse celebrating the National Palace Museum's White Jade Bitter Gourd sculpture, wrote that to call a gourd bitter is itself a symbol of life's realities—and that the purity of white jade illuminates, rather than conceals, the true texture of human experience. The same spirit belongs to the White Jade Radish of Meinong: modest in form, yet rich with agricultural memory. The name is not a claim to luxury, but an expression of reverence for the land and what it yields.

Meinong's annual White Jade Radish production now reaches approximately 10,000 metric tons. Beyond fresh consumption, the radish has given rise to a range of processed goods: dried radish, shredded radish pastry, and steamed radish cake. Each November, the Meinong White Jade Radish Festival brings together radish-pulling activities, agricultural education, and a local market—inviting visitors to feel firsthand the weight and warmth of a crop lifted from the earth.

Looking ahead, Meinong White Jade Radish is moving toward certification as a geographical indication certification and a deeper identity as a cultural brand. Through the convergence of agriculture and culture, this radish—as white and pure as jade—is becoming more than a winter crop. It is a living link between sustainable land use, Hakka heritage, and contemporary food culture.