One man's matsutake harvest in the mountains above Zhongdian in northern Yunnan. Prized by Japanese food lovers, when stocks were wiped out by an inse
One man's matsutake harvest in the mountains above Zhongdian in northern Yunnan. Prized by Japanese food lovers, when stocks were wiped out by an insect plague 15 years ago, Japan looked to Yunnan. The province now supplies more than half of Japan's yearly consumption of the fungi, employing more than 80% of Zhongdian's population. For the locals, matsutake madness was a revolution, increasing meager annual incomes by more than 100%. Known as "old eagle mushrooms", matsutake never rated highly with the Tibetan's culinary delights, selling at the market for 1-2 RMB a kilo ($). They now fetch up to $500 a kilo. But Zhongdian's newfound wealth has come at a price; villages traditionally sharing land rights now fiercely competing over picking availability to matsutake stocks, spurring violence and even murder in recent years.
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Photo credit: © Leisa Tyler / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: asian, asians, basket, baskets, business, buying, chinese, commerce, commercial, container, containers, economics, economies, economy, exteriors, flora, food, fungi, fungus, matsutake, mushroom, mushrooms, outdoor, outdoors, plant, plants, purchasing, selling, songrong, specie, species, vegetable, vegetables
