Weekend Long Read: The People Powering China’s Garlic Capital

In May, the roads leading into Jinxiang county in East China’s Shandong province are lined with garlic.

The pungent smell hangs in the air. Freshly harvested bulbs are piled on the roadside. Trucks wait outside warehouses, drying racks stand ready to be filled, and workers stream in from neighboring counties. For a few weeks in the summer, China’s garlic capital becomes a vast seasonal workplace.