The Historical Origin And Current Condition of Camel Milk in Inner Mongolia

Abstract

China has a long history of raising camels and drinking camel’s milk. The available literature shows that camel’s milk was spread among different social classes as late as the Yuan Dynasty, and was included in the “Eight Treasures of Mongolia” by the Mongolian Khan, which was regarded as a precious health medicine or used to make wine. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, court nobles, everyday people and border guards still kept the habit of drinking camel’s milk as an important supplement to their food.To this day, this traditional production method and living customs have been passed down in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai. Among them, Alashan League,Inner Mongolia, which is known as the “Hometown of Camel in China”, has preserved the custom of drinking camel’s milk and the traditional technique of making camel’s milk food most completely, and the related camel’s milk industry has been vigorously developed and has become an important pillar of the region’s economic industry.