How Manling became hub for medicinal herbs

In a small plantation on the northern rims of the Himalayas in Xizang autonomous region, visitors can witness nearly every stage of cultivating lingzhi mushrooms, a medicinal fungus traditionally harvested from the wild.

In a row of dim, humid bungalows, lingzhi spores are carefully grown into seedlings, waiting to be planted in nearby greenhouses. Close by, freshly harvested lingzhi mushrooms are neatly arranged on shelves to be dried for market.

Those are the sights at the Red Sun Family Farm in Manling, Xizang's Nyingchi city, where efforts to grow medicinal herbs and fungi are boosting local income.

Cheng Pan, a local Party official, said the farm has become a cornerstone of the local agricultural landscape.

The farm, which yielded 15 metric tons of dried lingzhi last year, is supplying seedlings and technical support to about 400 lingzhi-growing families in Manling to increase output.

"The growth is exponential," he said, emphasizing that lingzhi cultivated in Manling, a local species, boasts superior quality compared to counterparts grown in lower-altitude regions, making them highly sought after in the market.

The fungi are believed to enhance the immune system's function, helping the body fight off infections and illnesses and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years.