Litang Cordyceps

Litang Cordyceps

　　Litang Cordyceps is a specialty of Litang County in Garzê Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Litang is a major production area for cordyceps, and the cordyceps produced here are widely recognized as high-quality in the cordyceps trading market.

　　In western Sichuan, there is a high-altitude city—Garzê Litang—where the county seat sits at an average elevation of 4,014 meters and is surrounded by mountains ranging from 5,000 to over 6,000 meters in elevation. On some shady slopes at altitudes between 4,500 and 4,800 meters, grows Sichuan cordyceps that rivals the quality of Qinghai Yushu and Tibet Nagqu cordyceps.

　　The cordyceps produced in Garzê Litang County are widely recognized as high-quality in the cordyceps trading market. In markets across the country, many cordyceps merchants sell Litang cordyceps as Nagqu cordyceps, which is incorrect. But precisely because of this, the quality of Litang Cordyceps speaks for itself—the overall quality of Litang cordyceps is second only to that of Nagqu and Yushu cordyceps.

　　Litang is a major production area for cordyceps, and cordyceps harvesting is also a key source of supplementary income for local farmers and herders. During the cordyceps collection season, over 30,000 farmers and herders in Litang County head up the mountains each year to dig for cordyceps, causing a certain degree of damage to the grasslands. To protect the grassland environment and cordyceps resources, and to regulate cordyceps harvesting activities, the Litang County Government took the lead in formulating the "Litang County Cordyceps Harvesting Management Measures" within Garzê Prefecture. The regulations require that any holes dug during harvesting must be refilled immediately, prohibit the use of tools that cause significant damage to the grassland, and forbid damaging or destroying any facilities used for grassland construction. Violators who cause damage to grassland vegetation will be fined and ordered to restore the vegetation. After the cordyceps harvest season ends, harvesters are responsible for cleaning up household waste from their living areas.