Dagangshan Longan Honey Cultural Festival: Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu Invites the Public to Taste

The 2016 Dagangshan Longan Honey Cultural Festival opened on the 13th at Dagangshan Ruyi Park. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said that the Dagangshan Longan Honey Cultural Festival is now in its 15th year, making it one of Kaohsiung's largest events and the largest honey festival in all of Taiwan, China. This year, the domestic longan honey from this city that underwent evaluation all passed antibiotic and pesticide residue testing. A total of 37 beekeeping production and marketing class members won awards, including 9 Grand Prizes and 28 First Prizes.

Chen Chu said that the city government is actively promoting Kaohsiung's honey industry. In the year 100 of the Republic of China calendar, it assisted the Alian Farmers' Association in establishing a honey packing facility that has passed international certification, making the packing process open and transparent under health and safety standards, eliminating the possibility of adulteration, and using a traceability system to make the honey production history crystal clear, thereby enhancing consumers' trust in honey products. In addition, this year's abnormal climate caused honey production to drop by about 40%, and export volume was also somewhat insufficient, but the city government is still committed to bringing Kaohsiung honey to the international stage. In the previous two years, we obtained Muslim halal certification, and we hope to export to the Middle East so that more countries can learn about Kaohsiung honey.

The Agriculture Bureau said that all the award-winning Dagangshan longan honey is produced by beekeeping production and marketing class members in Kaohsiung City, meets the CNS1305 national honey standard, and has passed the international dual certifications of HACCP and ISO22000. This year's Dagangshan Longan Honey Cultural Festival is held on the 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st. In addition to selling honey, the site also features DIY activities with bee products and local agricultural specialties, fun challenge games, and in-depth cultural and ecological tours. The public is warmly invited to participate.