Jilin’s “Generation Z” pickles sauerkraut- old tradition brings new “money scene”

As autumn breezes sweep through, it signals the start of pickling season for cabbage in Northeast China. Zhang Guibiao, a member of Generation Z, is at the helm of his family-owned condiment factory in Sanjiazicun, Jilin City, where he’s already begun to process his first batch of 2 million pounds of cabbage.

This century-old business has been passed down through generations, and now Zhang carries on the legacy by embracing the traditional pickling techniques of the Jilin Ural Manchu community, making him a new generation inheritor of this age-old craft.

For the people of Northeast China, pickling cabbage is a winter ritual. In every household, a large stone once pressed down on jars of pickled cabbage, a sight deeply embedded in local culture. Zhang’s hometown is one of the primary origins of the Manchu ethnic group, and he uses a cold fermentation method that encapsulates the traditional practices of preserving various pickled vegetables.

Once freshly harvested, the cabbages undergo an initial selection before being sent to the workshop for cleaning and then placed into fermentation pools four to five meters deep, where they are combined with salt and water for the first stage of fermentation. “Growing cabbage is a local tradition,” Zhang explains. “At its peak, over 70% of the town’s autumn cabbages were processed for both domestic and international markets.”

Currently, Zhang has implemented a business model that integrates a company with its own farms, handling everything from production and storage to sales. This large-scale production approach not only addresses the supply needs of urban consumers craving pickled cabbage but also reaches markets as far as Southeast Asia and Europe.

In recent years, the booming cultural and tourism scene in Northeast China has inspired Zhang to expand his horizons. He has recruited several peers to help penetrate the market, saying, “It’s easier to communicate among young people who are familiar with e-commerce models.”

Among them is 25-year-old Shi Yanming, who has participated in multiple e-commerce project planning meetings. “You can’t have a table in Northeast China without pickled cabbage,” he asserts, emphasizing that whether visiting friends or traveling for business, the tender taste of Northeastern cabbage leaves a lasting impression, spreading its aroma further and further as people move around.

“Despite changes over the years, the craft of pickling cabbage continues to be passed down—it’s a reflection of the lives of Northerners and is closely tied to their daily experiences, rich in historical and cultural value,” notes Pi Fusheng, a cultural history researcher at the Jilin City Political Consultative Conference. He emphasizes that Northeast pickled cabbage serves as a vital living resource for ethnographic, folkloric, and anthropological research.

“Today, many families no longer pickle cabbage due to changes in living conditions and indoor environments that don’t meet the traditional requirements for the process, putting this valuable skill at risk,” Pi admits, expressing hope that young people will take the initiative to carry on this tradition.

Every day, Zhang alternates between his family farm and the pickling workshop, planning to pickle an impressive 10 million pounds of cabbage this winter. “Beyond catering to the domestic market, our young team aspires to continue expanding into international markets,” he concludes.