When is the best time to dig for Cordyceps sinensis? A detailed explanation of herders' methods for digging cordyceps

Qinghai is a major production area for Cordyceps sinensis, with annual output accounting for more than 60% of the national total. Since June, the four prefectures of Yushu, Huangnan, Guoluo and Hainan in Qinghai have all fully entered the cordyceps digging season. How is this “immortal grass,” as precious as gold, dug up? And how does it reach the whole country?

When is the best time to dig for Cordyceps sinensis?

The most accurate way to predict the best digging period for Cordyceps sinensis is mainly based on a comparison of the weather at the time and at the same period in previous years, in terms of cold and warmth. Digging during the best time not only yields a plump, full and sturdy caterpillar body with a short grass stalk, but also makes it easier to spot and dig. The harvest volume, quality and medicinal efficacy are all comparatively higher. If dug too early, most grass stalks have not yet emerged from the soil, making them hard to find and dig; if dug too late, the Tibetan cordyceps dries up, and the caterpillar body becomes hollow or rotten.

Every year from May 1 to around June 20, the production areas of wild Cordyceps sinensis each have a digging period of about 12 to 26 days. Generally speaking, the lower the altitude, the earlier the digging period, and the relatively poorer the quality of Cordyceps sinensis; conversely, the better.

In early June, spring on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau arrives only bashfully. At five in the morning, on the Batang grassland of Yushu at an altitude of more than 4,000 m, the sun is still unwilling to show its head on the other side of the ridge, and the breeze on one's face is not as gentle as willow branches. Bai Su, the eldest daughter of Pubu, a herder from Xiaosumang Township in Yushu City, is the first to get up. She needs to collect the fresh cow dung produced by the cattle herd last night and carry it to the drying yard, spreading it out bit by bit. Dried cow dung is the main fuel for Pubu's family to cook and keep warm. By this time, the other family members have also gotten up one after another. His wife Zhaxi Cuomao is busy milking the yaks, and their second daughter Deji Bamao carries a bucket to fetch water from a nearby river. Collecting cow dung, milking, fetching water and cooking every morning are the things Pubu's wife and daughters must do. Inside the house, the dry cow dung in the stove is burning brightly. Pubu, his son-in-law and grandchildren have also gotten up and washed. Amid laughter and conversation, everyone is full of longing for today's cordyceps-digging harvest on the mountain. After drinking a bowl of steaming butter tea and eating fragrant tsampa, a day's work is about to begin. After filling the motorcycle with gas and taking enough dry rations, Pubu's daughters and sons-in-law set off. On the roof, birds chirp happily and incessantly, as if seeing them off and blessing them. “Today they will ride motorcycles across the river to try a relatively distant mountain.” Pubu is not in good health and can only try his luck on the lower-altitude mountains nearby.

We followed Pubu to a hillside. Looking into the distance, several figures were already visible on the high mountaintop. After crossing a rushing stream, we began the cordyceps-digging journey together with Pubu. At an altitude of more than 4,300 m, the locals walked as if flying, while after walking quickly for a few steps we were short of breath and our hearts raced, and our pace clearly could not keep up.

“Reporter: How high is the altitude here?

Pubu: “About 4,300, and that mountain over there is 4,800.”

Finding cordyceps is not an easy task. Pubu came to a patch of shrubs and, like a scout, lay slantwise on the grassland, searching the grass in front of him in a carpet-like sweep with his eyes. He told us that the yield on this mountain last year was good.

Pubu: “In warmer places, search from the end of June to colder places; now search in warmer places.”

While walking, Pubu explained to us the tricks of finding cordyceps.

“Reporter: How much of this cordyceps is exposed?

Pubu: “Just a tiny bit is exposed.”

Although Pubu explained in detail and demonstrated how to find cordyceps, we still could not figure out the trick. The club-shaped fungal stroma of cordyceps emerging from the ground blends in with the surrounding withered grass that has not yet turned green. Even if the cordyceps is right in front of you, it is still hard to spot without careful identification.

Every three or four steps, Pubu had to lie down on the ground or bend down to carefully examine the surrounding grassland. If he did not find cordyceps, he would get up and walk forward, stopping every three steps and sitting down every five steps, and a whole morning passed quickly.

“Reporter: I see you getting up and sitting down like this; are you tired?

Pubu: “Very tired.”

Although this hillside had a very high cordyceps yield last year, Pubu's luck today was not very good, and he did not find a single cordyceps. As the altitude continued to rise, Pubu's brows also knitted tightly. It was still early, so Pubu decided to try his luck on the eastern hillside.

At this moment, when we turned back and looked toward the foot of the mountain, we realized we had already walked very far. The thin air and severe altitude sickness made us truly experience the difficulty of climbing.

After finally climbing to the hillside on the east side, the other people from the village were already on the mountain.

Pubu: “I did not dig any. Yesterday on that mountain over there I also did not find any, and only after changing to another place did I find 5.”

Soon, this temporarily assembled digging team had a harvest.

After finding cordyceps, the digger uses a small triangular hoe to dig up the soil around the cordyceps in one whole piece. After taking out the cordyceps, the dug-up soil is carefully backfilled, and then tamped firm with the handle of the hoe. Without careful looking, one simply cannot tell that this patch of turf has been dug open.

Pubu: “Digging like this can protect the environment. In the past there were outsiders who did not care about these things; they just dug for cordyceps and left after digging.”

Pubu told us that in previous years many outsiders came to dig cordyceps, damaging the grassland and littering. In the past two years, the government has restricted outsiders from going up the mountains to dig cordyceps and has also imposed strict requirements on local herders digging cordyceps, and everyone can now consciously protect the environment.

Sangding Taci, deputy secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Yushu Prefecture, told us that the starting point of all this is to leave prices to the market and management to the masses.

Sangding Taci: “The prefectural Party committee and prefectural government issued a system; the government strengthens law enforcement and serves the common people, leaves management to the masses and prices to the market, and has achieved scientific, efficient and law-based management of cordyceps collection”.

At an altitude of 4,300 m, one needs to search for cordyceps step by step. It seems that today Pubu lacks a bit of luck, so will Pubu's family be able to collect cordyceps this year? And how do the cordyceps collected by the herders reach the whole country? You are welcome to continue listening tomorrow to the second part of "Another Digging Season, Seeking the Immortal Grass on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau."