Huocheng County is located at the same latitude as the world-famous lavender producing area – Provence, France, with very similar climatic conditions and soil environment, and is one of the few areas in the world suitable for growing lavender. This has gradually become a unique business card for Huocheng and even for Yili in the world. The famous lavender has made the world remember Huocheng, a purple and affectionate land.
In ancient times, people used lavender to incense their washed clothes, hence the name “lavender”. Lavender is a semi-shrub of the Labiataceae family, 30-50 cm tall, densely branched at the base, densely pubescent, with linear or linear-needled, opposite leaves. Verticillasters, usually with 6-10 pairs of flowers, are borne at the top of the stem in a continuous spike. Lavender, also known as the “serene perfume plant,” has leaves, flowers, and stems covered with oil glands for extracting essential oils, with the flower tips as the extraction site. The flowers contain 0.8% rue oil (dried flowers contain 1.5% oil), and the main components of the essential oil are linalool acetate, linalool butyrate and coumarin. The aromatic oil extracted from lavender is elegant, fragrant and long-lasting, and is widely used, making it a valuable raw material for high quality cosmetics. Lavender essential oil is known as the “Purple Queen”.
Due to its rich and pleasant aroma, lavender essential oil is widely used as the main ingredient in perfumes and toiletries, such as soaps, eau de toilettes, balms, cold creams, hair oils, shampoos, etc. Therefore, lavender essential oil is an important and indispensable aromatic material in the fragrance industry. Lavender essential oil can also be used in medicine, with anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, analgesic, diuretic and other functions, can promote cell regeneration, accelerate wound healing, improve acne, abscesses, eczema, balance sebum secretion, has a miraculous effect on burns and sunburns, can inhibit bacteria, remove scars, and has been widely used in medical treatment since ancient times.
Lavender is native to the highland region at the southern end of the Alps. In 1964, the 65th regiment of the 4th Agricultural Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps was first transplanted from the Beijing Botanical Garden to the Yili region.
After the introduction and domestication, a set of scientific cultivation techniques and management methods were developed, which gradually adapted to the climate and soil conditions of Huocheng County. After more than 40 years of changes and the passage of time, lavender has taken root in Yili, the southern part of the country, making it the third largest lavender planting base after Provence, France and Furano, Japan, and the only major lavender producing area in China.
Lavender is an annual planting, multi-year harvest of herbs, harvested from the end of June to the middle of July of the same year, the normal annual yield of about 50 kg of dried flowers and about 5 kg of essential oil.
At present, the area of lavender cultivation in the Yili Valley has reached more than 30,000 mu, mainly concentrated in Huocheng County and the fourth division of agriculture 65 regiments, 70 regiments. The main varieties are Space One, Solve 5, French orchid and so on, of which the French orchid is the most widely distributed. In September 2004, lavender seeds selected from 65 regiments went to space, after a month of space baptism, lavender seeds back to 65 regiments, in 65 regiments of scientific and technical personnel carefully cultivated, growing well.
In recent years, Yili Prefecture actively support the rapid development of the lavender industry, cultivating the Iparhan, worry princess, Saint Mayella, Shiso Beauty, far from incense and other lavender brands. Lavender products involving beauty, incense, massage, health care, herbal tea, home accessories and many other areas, a large number of products sold to Shenzhen, Shanghai and other places as well as foreign markets, the economic benefits are obvious. And many domestic businesses are also competing to purchase lavender in Yili, to develop advanced decorations, cosmetics, souvenirs and women’s products and other products, the lavender industry has a very bright future.
Huocheng County has held the “China Huocheng Lavender Tourism and Culture Festival” for several consecutive years, actively cultivating the “China Lavender Hometown” tourism brand, to create a “fragrant city”, “romantic city”, attracting thousands of tourists from thousands of miles to Huocheng to enjoy the lavender blossoms, feel the unique lavender culture, taste the noble and elegant romantic aroma of lavender, Huocheng experience the endless charm of multi-ethnic culture.
The flowering word for lavender is waiting for love, waiting for the miracle of love.