In the middle of summer in June, seeing the Cordyceps trading scene sent by friends from Yushu was very lively, and suddenly thought that June is the season of harvesting cordyceps on the plateau, and I also encountered local people digging up the mountain to dig cordyceps because of traveling at this time, and the past is vivid.
The following pictures are of highland cordyceps diggers encountered in Yushu in June. Interestingly, the local children do not take autumn breaks, they take cordyceps holidays. In the hometown of Yushu Cordyceps called Duo County, in the morning, I saw a large number of plateau villagers riding motorcycles up the mountain, and saw a lot of tents in the mountains on the way, and the locals said that these were all digging cordyceps, and most of them went out as a family to eat and live in tents.
Cordyceps sinensis, also known as Cordyceps sinensis, is a health care and tonic herb in China, mainly produced in the alpine areas at an altitude of 3500-5000 meters, and ginseng, deer antler velvet and known as the three major tonics of traditional Chinese medicine. Cordyceps sinensis looks like a bug bat, but it is actually a grass that is a complex of manta moth larvae and can be used medicinally and foodily.
China is a big country of Cordyceps sinensis resources, accounting for 96% of the world's output, the production area is mainly in Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan five provinces and regions, of which, Qinghai Province's output accounts for about 65% of the country. However, the good quality of the cordyceps in terms of production is concentrated in Nagqu in Tibet, Yushu in Qinghai, and Ganzi Prefecture in Sichuan.
These three places, respectively tourist resorts, the advent of cordyceps season, not only attract many domestic and foreign people to buy and trade here, but also many tourists to experience the strange life of the locals.
The well-known cordyceps producing areas in the three places are located in the three provinces, and the quality and color of cordyceps vary greatly. It is said that The Tibetan Nagqu and Qinghai Yushu Cordyceps are the highest quality and the most expensive, while in Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, they are relatively cheaper. Let's take a look at the differences between these three places:
1. [Tibet Naqu]
It grows in the Changtang grassland at an altitude of 4500-6000 meters above sea level, and is famous at home and abroad for its high medicinal value and large size. In terms of color differentiation, the body and tail of cordyceps are translucent and oily, with a strong ghee aroma, and the color of the cordyceps produced is brown.
2、【Qinghai Yushu】
The annual production of Cordyceps sinensis in Qinghai Province is about 20-50 tons, ranking first in the country, mainly growing in alpine meadows above 4000 meters above sea level. The main production areas are in Yushu, Guoluo, Huangnan, Hainan, Haibei and other prefectures, among which the cordyceps in the Yushu area is brownish yellow in color, fleshy and thick, short and thick in the fungus, and the quality is the best in Qinghai cordyceps. Zaduo County became the first county of Cordyceps in Yushu Prefecture.
In the Cordyceps season in June, in the famous scenic spot of Sanjiangyuan, just happened to meet local villagers up the mountain to dig up Cordyceps returned, a friend spent 30 yuan on the spot to buy 20 sticks, do not understand the quality of Cordyceps, but local friends said that this price is not expensive.
It was the first time I saw fresh cordyceps, smelled it, and there was a strong smell of shiitake mushrooms.
3、 [Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan]
Sichuan Aba, Ganzi and other places also produce Cordyceps sinensis. In June, I traveled to Daocheng Aden and encountered a lively cordyceps trading place on the street of Shangri-La Town, Daocheng County. Some people come wearing masks, and some people carry large leather bags, which looks very mysterious.
The dress of the cordyceps person is a highlight, and the large gold ring is very conspicuous. This shows that most of the people who do this are relatively wealthy.
This old man who sells cordyceps wears a large gold ring in one hand and a precious stone.
Compared with the Cordyceps sinensis seen in Yushu Zaduo County, it was found that the texture of Daocheng here is hard, the eyes of cordyceps are dark brown, the taste of grass mushrooms is very light, and the price is cheaper than that of Yushu.
Due to curiosity about cordyceps, when traveling from the local cordyceps trading site, it was found that the cheapest bad quality cordyceps was generally 33-49 yuan a piece, while the general selection, calculated in grams, a gram was between more than 200 and 400 yuan. If the account is calculated at 1 gram and 268 yuan, then the price of 1 kilogram is 134,000 yuan, and the price is much higher than this.
"Winter is a worm, summer is a grass, Cordyceps sinensis is a treasure", why is Cordyceps so expensive? The author believes that one is that it is a relatively valuable traditional Chinese medicine in the clinic, the other is that it is rich in protein, amino acids, vitamins and trace elements in recent years, which has been called a high-grade health care product, and the third is derived from the rarity of things.
Because Cordyceps sinensis grows on a plateau above 4,000 meters above sea level, the yield is very small, and the most experienced people are said to be able to pick only more than ten roots a day, so it is expensive.
In the hundreds of thousands of yuan a pound of Cordyceps sinensis, does it really have magical health benefits? What do you think of this price and do you think it is worth it? Although the author has seen many places, he has never bought it, so he does not dare to evaluate its efficacy.