Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
According to relevant historical records, during the Western Xia period contemporaneous with the Song dynasty, people living in this area discovered that grinding the seeds of sand wormwood (sha hao) into powder yielded a sticky substance when mixed with water; dough made with it was not only pliable and smooth but also aided digestion, cleared heat, and strengthened the stomach.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The craft of making Zhongning wormwood noodles is a signature traditional local food-making skill of the Ningxia region, originating in and spreading through Zhongning County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Zhongning County lies at the southern end of the Ningxia Plain, in the transition zone between the Inner Mongolia Plateau and the Loess Plateau; its mountainous and hilly areas are arid and receive little rain, forming desert and semi-desert terrain. The unique geography provides suitable growing conditions for sand wormwood, supplying the wormwood-noodle craft with its special raw material. The main ingredients of wormwood noodles are additive-free high-grade flour, wormwood flour (hao mian zi), and alkaline water. Its preparation is complex and its proportions are well balanced. In making it, flour, wormwood flour, and alkaline water are blended in a set ratio, then formed into wormwood noodles through the steps of mixing, kneading, resting, rolling, airing, folding, and cutting. Rolling must apply even force, and cutting demands fine knife work; the dough must be rolled thin and cut fine to produce noodles uniform in thickness, width, and length. Boiling and rinsing the noodles require control of heat and timing to achieve a springy, refreshing bite. The accompanying vegetables for wormwood noodles are made by dicing various vegetables and lean meat. The saozi (topping) comes in meat and vegetarian forms: meat saozi uses mainly lamb (or pork, beef, chicken), green radish, and potato, while vegetarian saozi uses mainly potato, tofu, and shiitake mushrooms. The finished wormwood noodles have eight distinct traits: first, clarity (clear broth); second, whiteness (white noodles); third, redness (red chili and red goji berries); fourth, greenness (green vegetables); fifth, smoothness (silky noodles); sixth, refreshment (springy, non-mushy bite); seventh, fragrance (enticing aroma); and eighth, length (noodles long and thread-like, golden, bright, and resilient). From then on, the habit of adding wormwood to noodles became popular in the Zhongning area. Over more than 600 years of transmission, the Zhongning wormwood-noodle craft has passed from mother to daughter and mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, generation after generation, giving rise to the local characteristic that every household in Zhongning can make it and every village has its experts. The Zhongning wormwood-noodle craft is the crystallized wisdom of the working people of northwest China in transforming and using nature through production and daily life, and is part of the local people's everyday life and customs.
Archived Records of Process Steps
Its preparation is complex and its proportions are well balanced. In making it, flour, wormwood flour, and alkaline water are blended in a set ratio, then formed into wormwood noodles through the steps of mixing, kneading, resting, rolling, airing, folding, and cutting.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In Zhongning itself, wormwood noodles appear on the table at festivals, weddings and funerals, birthday banquets, and when welcoming guests, and are endowed with auspicious meanings such as health and longevity, marital bliss, and lasting happiness, making them one of the local folk customs.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship · Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, the documented transmission lineage spans four generations. Currently, sales of wormwood noodles have reached Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and other places, helping raise residents' incomes and drive local employment.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Qingai 04-1907
- Li Huizhong 05-2858
- Li Jiangang 05-2859
- Jia Zhiliang
- Rexiti Yimiti
- Hatamusha Nuer
- Yu Zhenling
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。