High up in the Himalayan mountains, hidden in the quiet pastures, grows a rare medicinal fungus. Speculators from around the world have heard what the fungus can do. (It’s a powerful aphrodisiac.) They have learned how valuable it is. (It’s more valuable than gold in the Chinese markets.) It’s an understatement that Big Pharma’s eyes are getting big – their greedy grin widening. The rush for the rare medicinal fungus Yartsa gunbu is on.
Nicknamed Himalayan Viagra, Yartsa gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) is harvested in early spring from the mummified bodies of caterpillars. When ghost moth caterpillars burrow into the ground, the rare fungus invades their cocoons. The fungus, appearing as dime-sized spores, is collected from the grasslands in early spring from mummified caterpillar bodies high up in the Himalayan Mountains across the Tibetan Plateau. The rare fungus is more valuable the gold in the Chinese markets. That’s why speculators come from far and wide to claim their share.