8th Lipu Taro Cultural Festival opens on Dec 18

The three-day eighth Lipu Taro Cultural Festival kicked off on Dec 18 in Lipu, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, staging various Lipu-style events such as folk custom parades and photography exhibitions.

The taro evaluation session during the eighth Lipu Taro Cultural Festival. [Photo/China News Service]

One of the festival's highlights was the taro evaluation session. Experts evaluated taros based on appearance, weight, aroma, taste, and texture.

Food tasting was also available on site, with chefs cooking various taro-based food for visitors to taste while enjoying a series of performances.

Taro has a culinary history in Lipu dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The town currently has a taro planting area of more than 50,000 mu (3,333 hectares), yielding over 100,000 metric tons, with a total industry value of over 20 billion yuan ($2.74 billion). Local products like taro paste and taro balls are popular domestically and internationally.