---
title: "The Story of Milk in China"
description: "From a symbol of imperial privilege to a staple on every Chinese table, the dairy industry has undergone a remarkable transformation over four centuries. This article traces the journey of milk in China, from the Qing dynasty's imperial herds to the rise of modern dairy giants like Yili, reflecting the nation's broader economic and social evolution."
author: "知料财经"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2019-05-24"
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# The Story of Milk in China

> From a symbol of imperial privilege to a staple on every Chinese table, the dairy industry has undergone a remarkable transformation over four centuries. This article traces the journey of milk in China, from the Qing dynasty's imperial herds to the rise of modern dairy giants like Yili, reflecting the nation's broader economic and social evolution.

"A glass of milk a day, strengthens the Chinese people." As an industry indispensable to a healthy China and a strong nation, today's dairy sector is a hallmark of agricultural modernization and a strategic industry coordinating the development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
But as early as 400 years ago, milk was still a symbol of noble status. From "special supply" to a "regular" on ordinary people's tables, what has the milk industry experienced in China?
**100 Dairy Cows to Support One Emperor**
In 1644, Qing troops crossed the Great Wall, and the Ming Dynasty fell.
New reign, new officials.
To cater to the Manchu emperors' habit of drinking milk, three cattle sheds, commonly known as the "Inner Three Sheds," were soon established on Xihua Mountain in Beijing.
This was China's earliest cattle farm.
During the Kangxi period, people were sent annually to the grasslands beyond Zhangjiakou in Hebei to bring back 600 dairy cows. Cows that did not produce enough milk were sent back to their original pastures.
As for quotas, the Emperor and Empress shared 100 cows, the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager each had 24, the Imperial Noble Consort 7, Noble Consort 6, Consort 5, Concubine 4, Noble Lady 2, the Crown Prince's primary consort 10, and the Crown Prince's secondary consort 5.
The ladies of the harem did not boast about their gold and jewels, but rather about how many cows they were allocated.
At that time, milk production was low. With each cow producing only about 2 jin (1 kg) of milk per day, the Emperor could drink up to 100 jin (50 kg) of milk a day.
So the question arises: how could the Emperor possibly drink that much milk in a day?
Thus, the people below began to creatively use milk, developing many dairy products, such as milk tea, almond custard, milk cakes, milk wine, milk pastry, milk egg custard, milk buns, and Wucha...
According to archival records, to honor Emperor Jiaqing, Jingshan used 10 jin of cream daily starting from the second day of the fourth lunar month in 1821, and the Anyou Palace in the Old Summer Palace used 10 jin of cream daily from the ninth day of the first lunar month in 1823. By the end of 1830, the two locations had used over 65,000 jin of cream.
Compared to Emperor Kangxi, his great-grandson Jiaqing was allocated more cows, but the ladies of the harem received fewer. Even the Empress was allocated only 25 cows, half of what her predecessor had.
When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken.
With the Empress's treatment reduced, the other ladies also suffered.
The Imperial Noble Consort's allocation dropped from six to four, the Consort's from five to three, and the Concubine's from four to two.
As for whether the Noble Ladies and Attendants could get milk tea, it probably depended on luck.
As the fortunes of the Qing Dynasty rose and fell, this "imperial delicacy" of milk spread from the Forbidden City.
During the Kangxi period, farmers in Wu County and Taicang, Jiangsu, began milking their yellow cattle and water buffalo (i.e., draft animals)...
Milk, condensed milk, and milk cakes were also within their capabilities.
After all, nothing could stop the Chinese people's talent and dedication to culinary culture.
**A Private Milk Business Forced into Existence**
In 1845, in the Shanghai Concession.
A Shanghai farmer milked his draft cow, put the milk in beer bottles, and carried them in baskets on a shoulder pole, selling them along the streets.
However, his customers were not his fellow villagers, but the foreign ministers in the concession.
Yes, large-scale milk farming and consumption in modern China did not first emerge in Inner Mongolia or Xinjiang, which had superior natural conditions and vast grasslands, but rather in the treaty ports.
Starting in 1842, when the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking with Britain, foreigners began to flood into the treaty ports.
Like Shanghai, Guangdong, Hankou, and Penglai in Shandong successively became treaty ports. Foreign missionaries, merchants, and expatriates arrived in droves, and clever farmers began milking their water buffalo and draft cows to sell to local foreigners.
The milk that came down from its pedestal was half a matter of necessity, half a sign of awakening.
**Dairy Cows for the Rise of China**
In 1876, an article titled "The High Profits of Cow Milk" appeared in the Wanguo Gongbao (Review of the Times).
"In the United States, there are a total of 1,300 companies producing butter and cheese, raising 350,000 cows, and producing 100 million gallons of milk annually. Each gallon weighs between 9 and 10 pounds. Each year, 100 million pounds of cheese are made from milk. Each cow can produce 333 pounds of cheese. This is only for cheese; it is worth 47 silver dollars. The butter and milk for direct consumption are not included. Sixty million pounds of cheese are exported to England, worth 8 million pounds."
At the end, the author, quite bluntly, posed a soul-searching question to the citizens of the world: "China's Mongolia has many cattle. If we were to follow the American example and make butter and cheese to sell to Westerners, it would be a great business! But it is left unused. Why?"
National righteousness, business acumen, and entrepreneurial spirit—all present.
The era of "a hundred flowers blooming, a hundred schools of thought contending" in the milk circle thus began.
During this period, China saw the emergence of the first individual milk sellers, mostly commoners who saw selling milk to foreigners as a means of livelihood.
In 1880, Chen Yingxiang established Wuhan's first dairy farm on Qiuchang Street. Initially using water buffalo and goats, it later switched to local yellow cattle.
In 1881, Shanghai saw the emergence of locally operated milk sheds using native yellow cattle and water buffalo. The milk was bottled in uniform clear glass bottles with glass lids and wire handles.
In 1895, Liu Xiang set up a dairy farm in Hanyang, Zheng Dagui established Zhengyuanshun Dairy Farm on Xinhua Road in Hankou, and Li Gongji, Fang Yuhe, Kang Jingtai, Li Santai, and Zhang Hongxing opened dairy farms on Sawan Street in Hanyang.
In 1898, under the white fruit tree in Hangzhou's urban area, Han Bangyi and Han Rongfu each independently established dairy farms, making them the pioneers of dairy farming in Zhejiang.
In 1910, farmer Zeng Guangquan in Jieyang brought back two water buffalo to produce milk, which quickly grew to 58 water buffalo.
Hardworking Shunde farmers also processed milk into milk cakes and sold them nationwide.
The Shuntian Times of the time recorded: "Milk, also known as naizi, is a great tonic. Used over time, it is sure to have a restorative effect, so weak people all like to use it. In winter, milk is made by wealthy families and delivered door to door. In summer, it is made into yogurt. It has always been said to be thriving. In recent years, foreigners residing in Beijing also use it quite a bit. This item is even more thriving than before."
Long-term supply shortage was ultimately a hidden danger for the whole society.
In the Shanghai Concession at the time, someone was even jailed for six months for fraudulently obtaining milk...
**The Influencers of the Cattle-Raising Circle**
An important reason for the supply shortage was that native yellow cattle and water buffalo were not specialized dairy breeds, and their milk yield was inherently low. Even the hardworking Chinese people could do nothing about it.
At the end of 1869, the Suez Canal opened, facilitating the introduction of European dairy cattle to China.
Over the next 30 years, foreign purebred dairy cows began to be introduced. Red and white dairy cows from southeastern France and black and white dairy cows from the Netherlands were brought to China... and crossbred with local yellow cattle.
This time, not only Chinese commoners, but also expatriates, missionaries, foreign doctors, and foreign troops formed the KOLs of the dairy cattle circle.
Different regions also had different preferences.
In Shanghai, the Holstein cows' milk yield was significantly higher than that of the red and white cows, arousing the envy of local milk shed owners, who competed to find breeding stock.
The black and white cows, due to their adaptability to Shandong's climate and obvious hybrid vigor, were favored by Shandong dairy farm owners. According to Shandong local records: "Crossbred with Dutch black and white cows, by 1924 the fourth generation was reached. The first generation stood 4 chi 1 cun tall and produced 133 liang of milk daily (1 liang = 32 grams); the second generation stood 4 chi 2.5 cun and produced 190 liang; the third generation stood 4 chi 2.3 cun and produced 273 liang, gradually transforming into the European breed."
Objectively, during this period, China imported a considerable number of specialized dairy breeds, and both production and sales were booming.
Production increased, but processing technology remained limited. Without tin can packaging technology, it was impossible to produce milk powder, condensed milk, and other milk products, thus failing to realize the predecessors' dream of "following the American example and making butter and cheese to sell to Westerners."
This gave foreign milk powder brands an opportunity.
**A Famine**
In 1877, Shandong suffered a severe famine.
Local Catholic missionaries adopted many infants.
But feeding the infants became a thorny problem.
Foreign media reporters, with a sense of justice, suggested in newspapers: raise funds to buy canned milk and use it instead of breastfeeding.
The Chinese people all said this was good, calling it a "wonderful emergency measure."
However, at that time, there was no domestic technology for producing canned milk. This gave foreign milk powder brands with mature packaging technology an opportunity.
A milk shortage became the first opening for foreign milk powder in China.
The first to seize the opportunity was the Swiss company Nestle, which had been established for only about 10 years.
Soon, cans of Nestle milk powder appeared in foreign firms in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Tianjin, and Hankou.
In 1892, advertisements like this began to appear in the Shen Bao: "Our firm has newly arrived top-quality milk for sale at a very reasonable price. This paste can be eaten by young and old alike, nourishes the complexion and prolongs life, and can replace breast milk for children. Our firm spares no expense, and it will never spoil over time. Hence, we use the magpie's nest brand as our mark, truly hoping to become famous far and wide."
At the end, the advertisement writer also specially reminded the public: "Please recognize our firm's magpie's nest brand mark to avoid being fooled by imitations."
Regarding the entry of foreign milk into China, the Qing government's role was bittersweet.
In 1906, the Qing government issued an opium prohibition order, banning opium nationwide.
This gave foreign firm owners new inspiration for advertising.
At that time, an advertisement for foreign milk read: "Our factory has been making milk for years, and it is the best in the world. It is white and clean, fragrant and rich in taste, a new creation of chemistry, truly an unparalleled delicacy. The elderly who take it can regain their youth. The young who take it can become strong. The sales volume is the highest in England. In Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, South America, San Francisco, and other places, 5 million boxes are sold annually. It can be said to be at its peak! At this time, when China is vigorously enforcing the opium ban and anti-opium societies are springing up everywhere, taking this milk will not only make the body strong and promote hygiene, but gentlemen who exercise should especially take it regularly for a hundredfold spirit. It is of great benefit to the country and the individual. Gentlemen, please try it, and you will believe that our words are not false."
Nestle milk even generously appealed: "Now that China has ordered the prohibition of opium, men and women should all quit. But the weak and fatigued may be concerned. Purchasing and taking this milk will be of great benefit. Its merits are too numerous to describe."
At that time, there was no advertising law, and false advertisements for foreign milk powder spread rampantly across the streets.
In 1909, an article titled "The Total Annual Import of Milk into China" stated: "China imports 260,000 dozen bottles of milk annually, with 25,000 dozen sold in Guangdong, totaling 53,000 pounds of silver, and it is increasing year by year."
**Mrs. Song's Dairy Barn**
Foreign milk powder was all the rage, but it was also genuinely expensive.
At that time, milk cost about one silver dollar for 10 bottles (650ml each). But if you were middle class, buying milk was too low-class. You should buy a villa with a backyard dairy barn and have fresh milk squeezed every morning. That would fit your persona. For example, Madame Soong Mei-ling did exactly this.
She took her cows wherever she went, and neighbors could often hear the cows mooing outside her villa.
Nanjing Weigang was originally the site of the Ming Emperor's "Imperial Horse Farm." In 1928, Madame Soong moved there, converted it into a "dairy farm," and even had a man named Cao Jincai raise cows and deliver milk for her.
In 1937, on the eve of the fall of Nanjing, the Nationalist government moved to Wuhan. Soong Mei-ling immediately ordered the cows to be moved to Chongqing, and then to Chengdu.
(Yes, you are only one step away from petting a cow if you have a small villa with a built-in dairy barn.)
But to be fair, our Madame Soong was quite concerned about the next generation. She also required the martyrs' children's school to give each student a pound of hot milk after the second class every morning.
**The Rise of Domestic Milk**
In 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded, the economy was depressed, and everything was waiting to be done.
According to data from the China Statistical Yearbook (1980), in 1949, there were only 4 dairy factories nationwide, 120,000 dairy cows, and an annual milk production of 200,000 tons, averaging 0.4 kg per person per year...
In 1956, in the Huimin District of Hohhot.
95 professional cattle-raising households formed the "Hohhot Huimin District Cooperative Dairy Farm." Within 3 years, it grew to 1,160 dairy cows, with a daily milk production of 700 kg and 117 employees, ranking as one of the three major dairy farms in Hohhot.
This was the predecessor of Yili.
At that time, the domestic milk supply was still very tight. Children, the elderly, and senior intellectuals all had to be rationed with milk coupons.
General Wang Zhen, a founding general who had experience in the Yan'an Great Production Movement and was then Minister of Agriculture and Reclamation, after receiving instructions from Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, vigorously promoted the importance of dairy industry development. He almost told everyone he met: "To make our people healthy and our children grow an inch taller, it is not enough to just eat rice and corn. We need to drink more milk. China must vigorously develop dairy cows."
This was one of the few policy benefits for the milk industry in that era.
In January 1992, the First Congress and First Annual Meeting of the China Dairy Association was held in Beijing.
The State Council approved the Ministry of Agriculture's "Report on Strengthening the Development of Animal Husbandry," which stated, "To increase the proportion of eggs, meat, and milk in the diet, we must further strengthen leadership over animal husbandry."
This was the first time the Chinese government included "dairy" in the diet of Chinese residents.
Previously, the government had already relaxed policies, allowing private dairy farming, and some localities had introduced preferential policies for purchasing dairy cows.
In 1992, another event with more far-reaching influence occurred in China—Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour speeches in Shenzhen.
It was in this year that the dairy farm made a decision that would have the greatest impact in the future—implementing a shareholding system. With 21 sponsors, absorbing other legal entities and internal employees as shareholders, the Yili Group was established through private placement and was registered with the Hohhot Administration for Industry and Commerce on June 14, 1993, and renamed "Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Co., Ltd."
Thus, the Yili Group was officially born.
Today, Yili has not only pioneered China's "liquid milk era" and become a banner of China's dairy industry, but has also brought China's dairy industry onto the world stage through the Olympics and the World Expo.
In 2018, Yili's annual revenue approached 80 billion yuan, with a net profit of 6.452 billion yuan, and its return on net assets remained above 20% for several consecutive years, ranking first in the global dairy industry.
From a cooperative group of 7 cattle-raising households to today's leading enterprise in China's dairy industry, Yili's development history encapsulates the microcosm of China's dairy industry growing from small to large, from weak to strong. The predecessors' dream of "following the American example and making butter and cheese to sell to Westerners" is being realized step by step.
Along with the milk business, there has also flourished the national sentiment of the post-50s and post-60s generations of "a glass of milk a day, strengthens the Chinese people" to the growth companion of the post-90s and post-00s "vital boys and girls."
At this very moment, milk has finally returned to its true self.
Source: Zhiliao Finance (ID: zhiliaocj)
Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.
**China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media**
**Dedicated to FMCG manufacturers' transformation, upgrading, and channel digitalization solutions**


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