Tacheng Flying Goose 塔城飞鹅

The goose

The flying goose descends from the Ili goose (伊犁鹅). China News Service dates its origin to about 1767, in the Qianlong reign (乾隆) of the Qing dynasty, when generations of greylag geese were tamed and crossed with local farm geese. CCTV describes it as the only domestic goose breed in China bred from the greylag and the only one that can fly, and says it is known for good meat. The birds have no knob on the head, eat grass, stand the cold and live on rough fodder; in Emin they are raised loose on natural pasture. Locals called the bird the Emin or Tacheng flying goose until 2013, when both names were replaced by Xinjiang flying goose.

How it is eaten

In 2018 the breeding company that hosts the national conservation farm served a banquet of 18 goose dishes, including pot-braised flying goose (罐焖飞鹅) and salt-water flying goose (盐水飞鹅), at two festivals in Emin: the county's first flying-goose food festival and a winter ice-and-snow tourism festival. It also cooked a flying-goose pilaf billed as 'Tacheng's first pot' (塔城第一锅), made with 100 geese, 400 kg of rice and 300 kg of carrots to feed more than 1,600 people.

Visitors from outside the area come in autumn and winter to eat the goose in Emin's restaurants and farm-stay kitchens. The goose is also sold air-dried and frozen, along with goose liver, intestines and feet.

Where it comes from

The Tacheng city government reports that the breed entered the first national list of protected livestock and poultry breeds in August 2000. In 2012 Yushikalasu Town (玉什喀拉苏镇) in Emin was named the national conservation farm for the Xinjiang flying goose.