TONGLING, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Around the Qingming Festival, farmers in Tongling are busy ridging fields, planting white ginger, applying fertilizer, and building ginger sheds. 

Tongling white ginger cultivation in Anhui has a history of over 2,000 years. People here have long cultivated an indigenous variety known as white ginger. Based on differences in the characteristics and growing conditions of ginger and rice, locals have developed an ecological planting pattern that improves the use of water and land resources and enhances plant disease control. 

Over time, distinctive ginger-growing techniques have also been developed, including ginger pavilions for seed preservation and germination, high-ridge planting, and shading sheds. In 2023, the Tongling White Ginger Plantation System was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS).