Shaoyang, Hunan: "King of Cured Meats" Helps Take Miao Cured Flavors Nationwide

"When I was a child, every twelfth lunar month, smoke from kitchen fires drifted up from every household, and the air was filled with the scent of cypress branches and cured meat. That was the taste of the Chinese New Year in my memory," said Wang Wenjie at the "Sheweizi Cured Foods Base" in Baimaoping Town of Chengbu Miao Autonomous County in Shaoyang, Hunan Province recently. Known as the "King of Cured Meats," Wang explained the motivation behind his venture, "I don't want this flavor, which carries our homesickness, to exist only in memory."

After graduating from Hunan University of Science and Technology in 2008, Wang Wenjie stayed in Changsha and took a white-collar job. Yet the pull of home never faded, as his parents loved the mountains and rivers of Chengbu and chose not to leave. In 2014, motivated by his desire to be closer to his family and contribute to his hometown, he made the decision to return and start his own business.

After years of dedicated study of traditional Miao curing techniques combined with modern innovations, Wang Wenjie established the "Sheweizi Cured Foods Base" in Baimaoping Town in 2023, focusing on preserving and promoting the Miao people's ancestral methods of curing meat.

Sheweizi Cured Foods Base 

Photo by Wang Xiangzhi

The development of the Cured Foods Base has not only preserved an age-old craft but has also become a "golden key" for helping local residents increase their income and achieve prosperity. The base employs more than ten villagers on a long-term basis for production, livestreaming, and firewood supply, including six from formerly registered low-income households lifted out of poverty. Each of these workers has seen their annual income rise by over CNY 10,000.

Today, through a combination of livestreaming sales and offline direct sales, cured foods from the Miao region are reaching consumers across China, becoming a signature of the region. The base now produces nearly 25 tons of ecological cured meat, sausages, and other products annually, generating more than CNY one million in sales. Livestreaming now accounts for 15 percent of total revenue, becoming a major engine for sales growth.