Right now, it is the Xinjiang onion harvest season. Fresh onions are arriving at warehouses from different plantations of Xinjiang province every day. Farmers from Xishan started to grow their onions in a cool sub-mountainous area about 3-4 years ago, mainly to fulfill an agricultural order. Compared to the previous year, the purchase price of onions increased by 40-50%.
The main onion cultivating areas of Xinjiang are Jimsar in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Nanshan area in Xishan, Urumqi. Shihezi, Hami, Yili, and Yanqi have some onion growing areas too. Every year there are about 3,330 - 4,000 ha planted with onions. White onion is the most popular variety here.
In China, the main onion cultivating areas are situated in Shandong, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Sichuan and Henan provinces. Fresh onions are available for Chinese customers from February to October. Onions from Xinjiang are crunchy, juicy and a little bit spicy, it definitely has a special taste. Every year, after the September-October harvest Xinjiang farmers can start to sell their onions earlier than farmers from the other provinces.
Source: Xinjiang Morning News