County in Hebei brings clearer rules to collectible walnut trade

Unlike walnuts grown primarily for food, mahetao are valued as collectibles. Collectors typically select them in matching pairs and rotate them in their hands, gradually polishing the shells and deepening their color. It's a pastime known as panhetao, or "playing with walnuts".

Shape, texture, ridges, and symmetry can all affect their value. For years, judging those qualities, and deciding whether two walnuts made a good pair, largely depended on the experience of growers, traders, and collectors. Local authorities said the new standards, which establish quantifiable criteria for such assessments, fill a gap in standardized rules for China's collectible walnut market.

Laishui now has more than 6,660 hectares of mahetao orchards with over 4 million trees across 15 townships, according to the county authority.

The way the walnuts reach buyers has also changed rapidly. While growers once relied heavily on local fairs and visiting traders, livestreaming has connected orchards and merchants directly with consumers nationwide.

Dujiazhuang villager Zhang Deqiu, who has worked with walnuts for decades, learned livestreaming and short-video production through local e-commerce training. "I never expected the mobile phone to become a new farming tool, and livestreaming a new kind of farm work," he said.

Selling walnuts through livestreaming brought Zhang an additional 43,000 yuan in just four months.