Traditional sugar making preserved in Dehong

जन आस्था

चैत ३, २०८०

At the Bailong Lake ecological park of Xuangang township, southwest Yunnan’s Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture, ancient ox-drawn wooden carts are still used to produce sugar. The sugar making area are divided into tree parts.

The first is the pressing zone, where sugarcane is manually fed into the wooden press, and a strong buffalo continuously revolves around the press, slowly allowing the sugarcane juice to flow out from the middle of the wooden wheel.

The second is the refining zone, where a person is adding firewood beside the sugar refining pot. There are four large pots on the stove, with two people heating the sugar juice and filtering out impurities. The sugar refiners continuously stir with a long-handled spoon, watching as the syrup gradually thickens. The entire process of making traditional brown sugar takes about 3 to 4 hours. The longer the cooking time, the more aromatic the sugar becomes.

The third is the shaping zone. When the timing is right, two sugar refiners bring a large pot and pour all the syrup into it. Placing it on the ground, they use a sugar stick to stir three times until the syrup becomes sandy. Now it's time to work quickly, using molds to shape the brown sugar until it cools down. Then, the fragrant and sweet brown sugar is ready.