What types of Zhangzhuwenwan walnuts are there, and which variety is better?

Wenwan walnuts, also known as hand-therapy walnuts, fitness walnuts, or zhangzhu, are a must-have for Chinese wenwan enthusiasts, and are the most expensive type of walnut. Regularly rolling walnuts can delay the aging of the body and has a great effect on preventing cardiovascular disease and avoiding stroke. So what types of wenwan walnuts are there? Which variety is good?

Types of wenwan walnuts:

Walnuts have four great famous varieties: Shizitou (Lion's Head), Jixin (Chicken Heart), Gongzimao (Young Master's Cap), and Guanmao (Official's Cap). Hutou (Tiger Head) and Denglong (Lantern) are also very popular varieties. Denglong is the walnut closest to a spherical shape. Other varieties include this cap and that cap, Qiuzi, iron walnuts, iron ingots, iron tripe, pumpkin, jujube pit, willow leaf, triangle, steamed bun, eagle beak, twin pair, and all sorts of others. There are also some things similar to walnuts, such as ghost face, oak seeds, cycad fruit, stone-carved walnuts, wood-turned walnuts, stone balls and iron balls. It is unknown exactly how many types of wenwan walnuts there are; some say there are as many as four or five hundred, while others say only a few dozen.

1. Old-style Shizitou

Old-style Shizitou walnut is the walnut with the longest history among wenwan walnuts! Its appearance is dignified and substantial; viewed from the side, the walnut's belly is full! The shape is well-proportioned! The shape is short with thick edges! The tip is small and blunt! The grain is deep and smooth! The base is large and thick, and the base is flat! The skin turns red easily in the hand! The color produced by playing is beautiful! The quantity is scarce and the price is high!

2. Menjian Shizitou

Menjian Shizitou is a Shizitou named after the walnut's appearance! This walnut has a solemn appearance! Thick edges and blunt tip! The tip is quite small! Almost nonexistent! Hence the name Menjian (hidden tip)! Big belly and flat base! The grain on the base is radial! Small green eyes! The skin has high density, feels heavy in the hand, the grain is deep and neat, and the skin is superb! When played, the skin color is bright and beautiful! The quantity is scarce! The price is high!

3. Apple Orchard Shizitou

Apple Orchard Shizitou is also a Shizitou walnut named after the walnut's appearance! Its place of origin is Mentougou, and its appearance closely resembles an apple, with an apple-shaped base. Because its green skin is very thin, it is also called “thin skin, big filling” in the market. Its appearance is dignified! Thick edges and flat base! Big belly and small navel! Its green eyes are quite distinctive! Round tail and round air hole! The grain is smooth. The skin is good! It turns red easily in the hand! Now Apple Orchard grafting has succeeded, but the fruit is large and the tip is large. The quantity is not great! The price is relatively high!

4. Horse Hoof Shizitou

Horse Hoof Shizitou is also a Shizitou named after the walnut's appearance! Its appearance is steady! Convex belly and flat base! Thick edges and blunt tip! Large concave base! Viewed from the side, it closely resembles the shape of a horse's hoof! The skin is good! It feels heavy in the hand! This variety has already been grafted! The quantity is medium! The price is mid-range!

5. Millstone Shizitou

Millstone Shizitou is also a Shizitou named after the walnut's appearance! Its appearance closely resembles a farmer's stone millstone! Its appearance is solemn! Short shape and thick edges, hidden tip and flat base, full belly, and the grain on the base is radial! The grain is slightly shallow, and the skin is good! It turns red easily in the hand! The quantity is not great! The price is relatively high!

6. Pinggu Sizuolou Shizitou

Pinggu Sizuolou Shizitou is a Shizitou named after its place of origin! Its shape is closest to the old-style Menjian Shizitou! It is produced in a deep ravine near Sizuolou in Pinggu, hence the name Sizuolou Shizitou. Its appearance is dignified and grand! The grain is neat and smooth! Short shape and big belly! Flat base and thick edges! The skin density is good! It is also the hottest variety this year! The old tree has been destroyed, and what is seen now is grafted! The quantity is quite scarce! The price is high!

7. Ma Laosi Shizitou

Ma Laosi Shizitou is a Shizitou named after the tree's owner! It is produced in Jixian, Tianjin! This walnut has a dignified and steady appearance! The grain is grand and smooth! Thick edges and flat base! The skin density is good! It feels heavy in the hand! In the past two years, this walnut's shape has been relatively tall! It is commonly known in the market as the big donkey face! The quantity is not great! The price is high!

8. Nanjiangshi Shizitou

Nanjiangshi Shizitou is also a variety named after its place of origin! It is produced in Nanjiangshi Village, Zhuolu, Hebei, with thick edges and bumpy grain! Pointed tip and large concave base! The skin density is high! There are now wild and grafted types!

9. Yuanbao Shizitou

Yuanbao Shizitou is a Shizitou named after its appearance! Its appearance is steady! Small edges and big belly! Viewed from the side, its appearance resembles an ancient yuanbao, hence the name! Flat base and small blunt tip, it turns red easily in the hand! There are many grafted ones! The price is moderate!

10. Lantern Shizitou

Lantern Shizitou is also a walnut named after the walnut's appearance! Its appearance resembles a lantern! Tall shape and big tip! Full belly! Bold grain! Flat base! The skin is good! The price is moderate!

11. White Shizitou

White Shizitou is produced in Laishui, Hebei! Its name comes from the fact that after the walnut farmer grafted it that year, after peeling the skin, it was found that the walnut's skin was whitish! Hence the name White Shizitou! White Shizitou is a relatively successfully grafted Shizitou! Its appearance is dignified and steady! Thick edges and small tip (small pointed tip), full belly! The base is large and well-proportioned! The grain is rather elegant! The skin is superb! It turns red easily in the hand! Its only shortcoming is that this walnut has relatively many yellow tips and yellow edges! The quantity is relatively small! The price is relatively high!

12. Red Shizitou

Red Shizitou is also a walnut named after its skin color, produced in Hebei. Because this grafted walnut's skin is reddish and also turns red easily in the hand, the walnut farmers named it Red Shizitou. Its characteristics are a tall shape and big tip, flat base, bold grain, a relatively tall and large appearance, and a relatively heavy weight! The price is medium.

13. Short Shape Dense Grain Shizitou

Dense Grain Shizitou is named after the walnut's grain! Its place of origin is Hebei! Its appearance is neat! The base is relatively large! The upper part of the walnut is relatively small! The grain is fine and dense! The skin is good! It is a grafted variety! The price is mid-range!

14. Coiled Dragon Grain Shizitou

Coiled Dragon Grain Shizitou is named after the walnut's grain! It was first called short shape, wide edge, fine grain Shizitou, and its place of origin is Shanxi. Coiled Dragon Grain Shizitou has wide edges and a flat belly, and the bottom edge curves a bit. Its shape is neat, the grain is fine and delicate, and the skin is good! The quantity is not great! The price is relatively high!

15. Starry Sky Shizitou

Starry Sky is also a Shizitou named after its grain characteristics! The place of origin of the wild tree of this walnut is Baihua Mountain in Beijing. The old tree has been destroyed, and Laishui grafting has succeeded. Its appearance is dignified and neat, with a big tip and thick edges, a concave base and hard skin, and the grain is in the form of small bumps densely connected, like the countless stars in the night sky. It is called Starry Sky by the walnut farmers. It is a new grafted variety in recent years, with a small quantity and a relatively high price!

Introduction to good varieties:

1. Qiuzi walnut: a type of wild walnut, mainly produced in the Northeast. Its characteristic is that it has obvious six ridges. (Mainly used for low-end wenwan walnuts; the price is not high, but it is also slightly more expensive than edible ones.)

2. Ma walnut: a semi-wild walnut, mainly in the Shanxi and Hebei area of North China. There are many specific varieties, and it is the main wenwan walnut variety. (Basically all used for wenwan; the price is very high.)

3. Iron walnut: a southern walnut variety, with a surface grain similar to peanut skin, that is, a grain made up of little pits. Unscrupulous sellers often use this to pass it off as something else, because the skin is thick and the weight is heavy, so it presses down on the scale, and its appearance is also rather close to edible varieties. Some unscrupulous sellers also mix a small amount of this into edible varieties, so be careful and guard against it. (The large ones with good appearance are used for low-end wenwan walnuts; the small ones are basically used to light fires, or are used by unscrupulous sellers to deceive people.)

4. Cotton walnut: this is the edible variety, with thin skin, large kernel, a relatively flat surface, and a very, very shallow grain. In the future, when buying walnuts, first take two in your hand and turn them around. If the sound is obviously muffled and feels very hollow, that means the skin is thin and it is good. If the sound is like clutching two bones, that means the skin is thick and it is unacceptable.

Which variety is the most expensive

Shizitou is the most expensive type of wenwan walnut. Origin:

1. White Shizitou is a type of grafted walnut and belongs to the Shizitou variety. It is considered the grafted playing walnut with the best feel to date.

2. It is produced in Hugezhuang Village, Laishui County, Hebei Province.

3. The reason it is called White Shizitou is that when the local walnut farmers picked the walnuts, they opened the green skin and saw that the walnut's skin color was whitish. They only knew that the variety was obviously Shizitou, and in order to distinguish it, they specially named it “White Shizitou”.

Advantages and disadvantages of Shizitou walnuts

Advantages: short shape, thick edges, hard skin, a base that is large and flat with a slight inner concavity, and a grain that is continuous, dense, deep and beautiful. Most of them have a well-proportioned appearance, a very small tip, and the tip area is similar to Nanjiangshi four-half mouth and so on. Shrinkage is relatively small (those above 40 shrink by 1 to 2 mm).

Disadvantages: the two edges on the base have slight yellow veins. Among Shizitou walnuts, ——“Pinggu Sizuolou” walnut is very obvious. This is a walnut variety named after a place name. But the specific place name is incorrect; it is only close to Sizuolou, and is not actually in Sizuolou. But it has already become established by convention. People familiar with it call this variety “Sizuolou” walnut when they see it. The origin of the name is the sediment of culture, and if it is wrong, then it is wrong.