Drolma (below) looking for "Beshing Shamo". Beshing Shamo means in Tibetan "Oak mushroom". On the Tibetan Plateau Tricholoma matsutake is associated with evergreen oaks, which were just cut for firewood here, but grow new shoots right away.
Drolma showed us a forest road that took us 1000m/3000ft above the village where we met them, while the highway under construction, currently a mud track, was blocked by an accident in front of her house. While the parties involved were arguing for an hour and very close to a fist fight - no exchange of insurance cards out here - Langdon Cook made some comment like "what a crazy scene" to a young local Tibetan bystander who, to all our surprise, replied in good English , "yes, crazy, I know". So we started to talk, mentioned that we were "mushroaming", and found out that Tashi and and his aunt Drolma are dedicated mushroom collectors. Soon we arranged that we would return the next day for matsutake hunt with them in Nyachuka / Yajiang County, Ganzi / Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan.
Orgyen Rinchen and his brother had filled up their bag this morning. We bought some of their matsutakes for dinner.
Once in the oak forest we met several collection parties who unfortunately had already collected most of the matsutake. Still, meeting them was a joyful encounter and they were very surprised to find westerners in their forest.
Our guide Dorje, from several journeys with me seriously infected by the mushroom bug, shows Tashi spore discharge. Upon touch these Spathularia flava were releasing a cloud of spores.
After the mushroom hunt we were invited to Tashi's mother's home for Tibetan tea and tsampa. The hospitality we always receive is overwhelming. How often do we invite a group of 13 strangers to our homes?
Here
A Khampa matsutake dealer that visits the villages each afternoon to buy up the freshly picked matsutakes to sell them to brokers in Nyachuka / Yajiang Town in the evening. We were told by a broker it takes about 24h for the mushrooms from first point buying to the processing facilities near the airport in Chengdu. The drive alone takes 16 hours, what a well-greased supply chain to supply Japanese mushroom lovers.
A pound of fresh matsutake trades for about 50 RMB (US$ 8) right now. Often it is a bit lower at 35 to 40. The leaves protect the mushrooms from drying out, loss of water is a loss of weight and thus value.