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China Elevator Stories
Northeast China's Fertile Black Soil
Northeast China’s black soil yields an abundance of vegetables and fruits during the months when it is not frozen.
06/11/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Northeast China is famous for its high-quality black soil and the fact that rice is only grown (and harvested) once a year, unlike other areas in China, where it is grown and harvested twice.
Such areas include the rice terraces in Guangxi Province (the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces) and China’s largest rice terraces, located in Yunnan Province, the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces. I have always found pictures of these rice terraces beautiful and have always wanted to visit, but never made it there. I once visited the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, which are fascinating as well, and made for a great trip where I also trekked across the terraces. I went there during the low season, and except for a few travelers, the terraces were almost empty. This makes for an enjoyable visit, as I imagine these terraces are crowded during other seasons.
Northeast Chinese rice is prized for its great taste – and I have to say, the rice truly tastes terrific here. You won’t need any other kind of rice if you can eat the Northeast Chinese variety – a rounded rice with a unique taste (except maybe for Indian Basmati rice, which would truly be the only other kind you’d need, since nothing quite compares to Basmati rice, ideally served as a side dish to Indian curries).
Besides rice, a lot of corn is grown in this area, since Northeast China is considered China’s Corn Belt. The corn grown here is exported all over China. Corn is used in cooking, for livestock feed, and corn stalks are also used for heating kangs and making fires in kitchens in rural Northeastern Chinese homes.
I have taken a few pictures that show Northeast China’s black soil and countryside in fall, before and after harvest.
Have you ever tried this kind of rice?