Many times, people who like incense, often hear a word, that is "national incense". But I do not know, not all "national incense" is Hainan agarwood, "national incense" is a general term, it can be roughly divided into Hainan agarwood, Hong Kong agarwood, Guangdong agarwood, Yunnan agarwood, etc.. Hainan agarwood is one of the important national incense, also known as "Qiongzhi".

Photo taken at Hainan Da Guan incense base in Qiongzhong

    Hainan incense can be divided into "water ge", "yellow oil ge ", "black oil ge " said. Thus the “ge” refers to the core part of the tree. In Hainan Li language, it is called "Ge". That is, the heart of the tree oil material. Generally refers to the agarwood tree due to external factors or their own disease caused by the tree can take the place of rain, such as pits, after the rain and dew baptism,  water gradually enters the sinker tree and causes it to develop antibodies, the final formation of agarwood, this is the water ge  , also called "quick incense", the color yellowish and earthy yellow, or is yellowish brown, the brighter the color, the higher the quality. 

   Generally, the water ge produce incense time is short, and easy to produce large material, can not be used as smoked material, if you want to smoke, can only choose the place with more oil, otherwise it will appear the smell of rotten wood. Extremely high quality water ge  is rare, so it general  is often used to make carved crafts.

    The color of yellow oil ge is light yellow, even if there is more grease, the overall color is light yellow. Why is it similar to the color of water ge? Because it is basically the same tree as the water ge, but basically produce incense in the core of the tree , good quality yellow oil ge price is also very high, but now on the market to some board head and non-core material oil less yellow oil agarwood are called yellow oil ge. Strictly speaking, only the core of the agarwood  tree oil-bearing agarwood, can be called yellow oil ge.

  The basic color of black oil ge is black brown, slightly light yellow and white, the markings are irregular and flaky or lumpy, and the pores are spotty. Its oil lines are evenly distributed and well organized, as if drawn with a brush.The fragrance of black oil gram is heavy but not strong, very cohesive, in line with its deep appearance, smoked aroma becomes sweet and mellow, refreshing, known as the gentleman of incense, and the black oil gram has a high medicinal value.

  Macroscopically speaking, the full oil of Hainan black oil ge agarwood is black, grease into paste almost no fiber, and grease even softer than other Huian agarwood production area agarwood; taste at first smell the fragrance of mild and pure, more obvious, burn the aroma of more sweet and thick. Since high-quality Hainan agarwood has almost no woody fibers, you will not smell the irritating smell of fibers when frying agarwood, so Hainan agarwood and some wild national agarwood such as Hong Kong are very suitable for making tea, brewing wine, pharmaceuticals, quenching oil, frying incense, etc. 

  However, there are still some differences in appearance characteristics and flavor intensity between the different aroma vintages. At present, water ge agarwood is the lowest priced, yellow oil ge is higher, and black oil ge is the highest in the market. The yellow oil ge and black oil ge is one of the best agarwood in Hainan,occasionally there is aquilaria crassna.

 Why is Hainan agarwood in the forefront of all agarwood production areas? First of all, Hainan agarwood itself has a number of excellent genes, especially in the formation of the environment, Hainan's geographical location are surrounded by sea, is China's southeast island climate terrain, higher temperature and humidity, rich in strains, is the best latitude for the production of agarwood. And the only one that can be equal to it is Hong Kong agarwood. The status of Hainan agarwood is almost irreplaceable, and other domestic origin of agarwood is also the best, and the origin of many national incense, so again, do not hear "national incense", defined as Hainan agarwood.

 Photo taken at the Great View Agarwood No. 1 seedling nursery

   Ancient Lemudong Mountain (now Qiongzhong County and surrounding areas) is the top source of Hainan agarwood, with dense forests and turquoise streams, making it a famous tropical rainforest area in Hainan.

    Li Shizhen's "The Compendium of Materia Medica / Incense / Collection of the Interpretation" states that："Vietnam's incense is not as good as Cambodia's, Cambodia's incense is not as good as Hainan Lidong, Lidong and Wanan Lemu Shandong Dong is the best in the world, said Hainan sink 'a piece of million money ......"