Highland barley has been a staple food of Tibetans for thousands of years, and most recently, it has helped Chinese bakers win international awards in Europe.

Lin Yeqiang and Feng Yingjie were announced victorious after a three-day baking competition in Munich, Germany, last week known as the "iba. UIBC.CUP of Bakers 2023".

The Chinese team took the first prize after defeating bakers from 12 countries, including Japan, France, Germany and Italy, during the event, which ran from Oct 22 to 24.

Lin and Feng also won awards for "Best Danish Pastries" and "Best Bread".

The event was held at the Baking Exhibition Center in Munich, a leading global venue since 1949.

While preparing for the competition, Wang Zi, coach of the Chinese bakery team, had the idea of combining traditional Chinese culture with global trends, searching far and wide for the best original ingredients.

After a year of research, Wang met Pei Kang, head of the culture and tourism department in Shanghai's Qingpu district.

Pei, also deputy secretary-general of the Shigatse city government in the Tibet autonomous region, has promoted the use of the region's barley flour for making specialty baked goods.

"Our Shanghai Aid-Tibet working group assisted Wang's team by coordinating with a local enterprise in Shigatse to carry out targeted research and development. A technical route was worked out before the competition," Pei said.

Wang's team agreed to use highland barley produced in Tibet as the key ingredient for the Chinese team's entry in the competition. Under the guidance and matchmaking of Aid-Tibet cadres from Shanghai, Wang was introduced to Shigatse Zangyan Food Co, a local company that produces highland barley products.

"Using highland barley to make fermented seeds integrates traditional Chinese cultural elements into their baking and gives the world a glimpse of the unique charm of Chinese baking," Wang said.

Most of the flour used worldwide in the baking industry comes from developed Western countries, he said. But this time, it was highland barley flour from Tibet that helped Lin and Feng beat their peers.

"This shows that highland barley has been recognized by the international baking industry, and that it provides a new alternative to high-end baking flour," he said.

Highland barley has gradually gained more popularity overseas in recent years. It is considered a healthy food, enriched with nutrients such as dietary fiber, beta-glucans, vitamins and other trace elements.

Hu Fawei, deputy executive Party secretary of Tibet's Gyalze county, a major barley cultivation area, said the county has three barley processing enterprises, and the county government has been making efforts to develop industries to increase the added value of barley for farmers.

The planting area of highland barley in the county has expanded slightly, from 6,900 hectares in 2020 to more than 7,400 hectares at the end of last year.

"The yield of highland barley increased by 448.1 metric tons in 2022 over that of 2020," said Hu, who also leads the Aid-Tibet officials from Shanghai in Gyalze.

"The Aid-Tibet team has effectively driven local employment and income growth by introducing the e-commerce platform of Freshippo — Alibaba's supermarket chain — last November as part of a cooperation agreement with the local farmers," he added.

Thanks to Freshippo, the first "Hema" village in the county — where farmers grow crops for Freshippo — was authorized in July.

"The planting area of the county's Paljor Lhunpo 'Hema' village has reached 100 hectares, including about 13 hectares of farmland for organic barley. It has basically met the needs of Freshippo for barley product research and development," Hu said.