Mutton is a famous delicacy in Haimen district, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: haimenrongmei]  

Haimen district in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, has over the past few years been making a series of efforts to advance high-quality development of its goat industry.

For example, authorities have been focusing on the construction of the "Haimen Goat Special Advantage Seedling Base" to enhance the protection of Haimen goat germplasm resources. In 2000, Haimen goat was designated as one of the 78 national-level livestock and poultry genetic resources conservation breeds.

At the same time, upgrading of the White Goat Research Institute is being implemented, which includes a three-story comprehensive sheep shed. The shed, which is equipped with advanced breeding equipment, such as intelligent breeding, environmental automated control, and automatic feeding control, is expected to breed more than 1,000 purebred Haimen goats per year.

Authorities have also established the Goat Industry Association with major enterprise members to develop large-scale breeding. As of the end of July, the district had 423,900 goats, an increase of 16.71 percent over the figure for last year.

Meanwhile, the local government has been tapping into e-commerce platforms to expand the market share of Haimen goat products.

In addition, a goat-themed park and museum were set up, and a series of goat cultural events such as the Fuyang Festival were held, to develop rural tourism so that tourists can enjoy mutton dishes and experience goat culture.

Fuyang Festival, a traditional Chinese food festival, starts on the first day of Sanfu, the hottest and dampest period of the year in the Chinese lunar calendar that usually comes between mid-July and mid-August.

During the festival, eating mutton and drinking mutton soup is a traditional way of spending the dog days of summer.

A goat cultural event is held in Haimen district, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: haimenrongmei]