Yartsa gunbu has been used as a traditional remedy for thousands of years, though only by the very wealthy. 
It's been bartered for tea and silk, and is worth more than four times its weight in silver. 
So lucrative is this trade,that sites and information are jealously guarded. 
At the nearby market, yartsa gunbu are cleaned, and their true nature becomes clear. The yartsa gunbu translates as "summer grass,winter worm". 
The winter worm is a caterpillar. It eats roots of grasses 
in preparation for its transformation into a moth. 
But some winter worms never make it as moths.
 Instead,a strange growth erupts from their body, appearing above ground in summer.
This is the "summer grass", a fungus called Cordyceps,whose spores have infected the caterpillar, using its body as their host. 
 Modern scientific tests have shown that substances contained in Cordyceps lower blood pressure and make it easier to breathe.
 So in recent years,harvesting this natural treasure has grown into a huge and profitable business.








冬虫夏草被用作传统药物已经上千年，但仅限于非常富有的人群。它被用来交换茶叶和丝绸，可以换回超过本身四倍重量的银子。这项贸易是如此的暴利使得它的交易地点和信息都被谨慎地保护起来。在附近的集市上冬虫夏草被清理干净，这使得它的本来面目显露了出来，冬虫夏草被翻译为“冬天的虫子夏天的草”。冬虫是一种毛虫，它以草根为食，为自己变身成蛾做准备。但有些冬虫却从没有机会变成蛾。而在夏季一个奇怪的植物，在冬虫的体内生长发育直至破土而出，这就是“夏草”。一种被称为虫草的真菌 是它的孢子侵入了毛虫体内，并将毛虫的身体作为它们的宿主。现代科学实验证明含有冬虫夏草的物质可以，降低血压并能使呼吸更顺畅。所以近些年来收获这种自然资源，已经成为有巨大利益的生意。