Why Cordyceps Costs More: Origin, Grade and Scarcity

Currently, the main production areas for cordyceps are only Qinghai, Yunnan, Sichuan, and India. With climate warming, the altitude requirement for cordyceps continues to rise, leading to increasing rarity.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is vast, and not all areas produce cordyceps. Cordyceps only grow in certain areas where the mountain tops are snow-covered year-round, the altitude ranges from 4,000 to 6,000 meters, and the snow mountain slopes have shrublands or meadows (cordyceps grow at altitudes around 3,500-5,000 meters). These places have harsh conditions, with most of the year below freezing and severely lacking oxygen, making them unsuitable for long-term human habitation, and human presence is rare.
Each April and May, when the slopes begin to thaw, Tibetan harvesters travel by horse, yak, tractor, truck or motorbike to camp at the foot of the snowy mountains. They spend two months coping with altitude, cold and sudden wind, snow or hail, even while lowland temperatures reach 20–30°C. Living conditions are difficult.
Harvesting is arduous. Most sites are above 3,800 metres, where oxygen is scarce and ultraviolet exposure is intense enough to require full head and face covering. Searchers crouch or lie in wet grass for weeks, risking longer-term health problems. The work is solitary, exacting and hard on the eyes: a person may find only 1–2 pieces—or none—on a poor day, 20–30 on a good one, and about 10 on average.