Protected local food
Luc Ngan Lychee
ルックガン ライチ
Lychee from Luc Ngan in Bac Giang province, northern Vietnam, larger and sweeter than other Vietnamese lychee. It is registered in Japan's GI system.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 12 March 2021
- Region
- Official name in Japanese
- ルックガン ライチ
- Official area (in Japanese)
- ベトナム国バックジャン省ルックガン県のチュ町、ギアホーコミューン（現「チュ町」）、ドンコックコミューン、ビエンソンコミューン、ビエンドンコミューン、ジャップソンコミューン、ホンジャンコミューン、キエンラオコミューン、キエンタインコミューン、ミーアンコミューン、ナムズオンコミューン、フィディエンコミューン、フオンソンコミューン、クィソンコミューン、タンホアコミューン、タンラップコミューン、タンモックコミューン、タンクアンコミューン、タインハイコミューン及びツーフウコミューン
Big and sweet
Luc Ngan lychee, vai thieu Luc Ngan in Vietnamese, is bigger and sweeter than lychee grown elsewhere in Vietnam.
Dry, pebbly hills
The trees are planted close together on pebbly hillsides in Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province. Little groundwater is held in these hills, so the trees get less water than in other lychee areas, which concentrates the fruit's sweetness.
Protected in Japan
Japan lists Luc Ngan lychee in its GI register, so the name is protected there just like a Japanese food.
Good to know
- Lychee season in northern Vietnam is early summer, around June.
- Compare with Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit, another Vietnamese fruit in Japan's GI register.
Questions travellers ask
What does Japan's GI registration mean?
Only products from the registered area, made the registered way, may use the name in Japan. Foreign GIs are protected there in the same way as Japanese ones.
Where is Luc Ngan?
In Bac Giang province, northeast of Hanoi in northern Vietnam.
Where it comes from
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.