Wild Mountain Vegetables 山野菜
Wild Mountain Vegetables is featured among the local specialties of Heilongjiang.
Wild Mountain Vegetables (山野菜) is the collective name for the edible wild greens picked in Heilongjiang's forests: a group of plants, among them bracken, houtui, cinenya and day lily, rather than a single vegetable.
Ingredients
The Tieli (铁力) city government, which calls its area a green treasure house of the Lesser Khingan (小兴安岭) range, lists the wild greens of its hills by name: houtui (猴腿, literally "monkey leg"), bracken (蕨菜), huangguaxiang (黄瓜香, literally "cucumber fragrance"), cinenya (刺嫩芽, literally "thorny tender shoots"), day lily (黄花菜) and laosangqin (老桑芹). The same page lists them beside the area's wild fungi, such as black wood ear, hericium and hazel mushrooms, and its wild nuts and fruit.
Where it comes from
China News Service describes Yichun (伊春) as having more than 70 kinds of edible wild greens and more than 30 kinds of wild fruit. In late May 2025 the agency reported that the picking season was under way, with bracken, cinenya and houtui covering the hillsides.
Farm households pick in the forest while refrigerated lorries wait at the foot of the hills; each full load goes straight to a factory, where the greens are made into dehydrated wild greens and canned wild greens. These are sold in supermarkets in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities. In Yichun itself, the owner of a light-meal shop told the agency that a wild-greens salad was that month's best-selling dish.
Questions before you order
When are Wild Mountain Vegetables picked?
China News Service reported on 26 May 2025 that Yichun was in the middle of its picking season, with bracken, cinenya and houtui covering the hillsides. The pickings go by refrigerated lorry straight to factories that turn them into dehydrated and canned wild greens.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.