When the demand for, and prices of caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis, ‘the Himalayan Viagra’, long a part of traditional Chinese medicine) soared, the pastoralists of Golok on the Tibetan plateau where the fungus is endemic dug up, dried and sold the fungus to traders. In the process, these yak and sheep farmers, used to living on the edge of subsistence, became wealthy beyond their imagination. *Trading Caterpillar Fungus in Tibet: When Economic Boom Hits Rural Area* tells the story of what they do with the money they earned from gathering and trading caterpillar fungus, and what this money does to them, revealing a sophistication few outsiders would credit them for.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on Transliteration
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Units of Measurement and Currency
- Introduction
- Aim of this Book
- Development and Modernity
- Some Important Notes from the Author
- The State of the Research
- Structure of the Book
- 1. Golok: People and Places
- Golok is Heaven and Earth
- Weather
- Administration and Travel
- The People
- Research Locations
- 2. Digging
- Diggers
- Time and Tools
- Does Everyone go Digging?
- Women and Men
- 3. Fungus, Medicine, Commodity
- Medicine
- Domestic Uses
- Trade
- The Boom
- Caterpillar Fungus Production in Qinghai and Golok
- Commodity
- 4. Market and Traders
- Traders’ Official status
- The Informal Economy
- Tibetans and Others
- The Multilayered World of Caterpillar Fungus Traders
- Traders and their Suppliers
- Does Ethnicity Matter?
- From Hand to Hand
- 5. Market Operations
- Quality and Prices
- Bargaining
- Market Fluctuations
- 6. The Law in Action
- The Open Door Starts to Close
- Banishing the Licences: The Door Closes
- A Checkpoint
- The Pastoralists’ Opinions
- The Law and Control
- Legality and Licitness
- 7. Money
- Money Talk
- The Mystery of Spring
- Sacred Mountains
- Dangerous Money
- 8. Pastoral Life and the Market
- Pastoral Products and the Pastoral Calendar
- Pastoral Products and the Market
- Growing Yak Herds
- Disappearing Sheep
- Lazy Nomads
- 9. Spending the Money
- Crazy about Houses
- Vehicles of Change
- Consumer Months
- Conclusions
- Afterword: A Note on Methodology
- Appendix
- Tibetan Word List
- Bibliography
- Index
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