Silkworm farmers embrace harvest season of "golden cocoons" in Tongxiang, E China

Photo taken on May 25, 2021 shows silkworms spinning cocoons at a villager's silkworm breeding farm in Jiansheng Village of Tongxiang City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Tongxiang, east China's Zhejiang Province, is famous for its over 4,000 years' history of sericulture. Its silkworm breeding and mulberry planting tradition has been listed by the State Council as the national intangible cultural heritage. A new variety of silkworm called "golden cocoon" is pale gold in color. The processed silk of "golden cocoon" has higher lutein content and better antibacterial effect than the ordinary ones. Products made of the cocoons are favored by domestic and overseas markets. The "golden cocoon" has made a great contribution to upgrading local traditional agriculture and increasing farmers' income. In these days, local silkworm farmers embrace the harvest season of the "golden cocoons". (Xinhua/Xu Yu)