The Living Gold in The Desert - Xinjiang Hetian Cistanche Deserticola

In Hotan City, the southernmost part of Xinjiang, located between the Karakoram Mountains and the Taklamakan Desert, is a truly inland arid region. Due to the influence of the natural environment and geographical location, the precipitation here is very low, natural disasters are frequent, arable land is scarce, the ecological environment is very fragile, and the carrying capacity of land and natural resources is very limited.

Harvest of Cistanche deserticola

A wind blows once a year, from spring to winter. Small winds are hard to turn a blind eye to, while strong winds bury people alive. "This was once a description of the local environment by the local people. However, while God closes a door, he also lovingly opens a window for it. On the land of Hotan, there is a vibrant vitality of "green and gold under the shuttle trees, wealth at the tips of the red willows, treasures in the sand and grass, and green fields in the desert".

Geographic coordinate - Luopu County, Hotan City, Xinjiang, is located in the southwest of Xinjiang and the southern half of Tarim Basin. The entire terrain is high in the south and low in the north, high in the west and low in the east, with the Kunlun Mountains and Karakoram Mountains in the south. The entire mountain range is crescent-shaped and surrounds the vast Taklamakan Desert in the north.

This place is covered by an endless green willow forest. Upon careful observation, it was discovered that rows of straight "golden bamboo shoots" had emerged from the sandy ground tightly nestled against the red willow forest.

Harvest of Cistanche deserticola

Originally, this line of "desert golden shoots" was covered in tubular small flowers that were either light purple, light pink, or milky white, like beautiful young girls shyly cuddling up next to Red Willow's mother.
This is nothing else, it is the "living gold" in the desert - Cistanche deserticola. Men eat to strengthen their bodies, women eat to nourish yin and enhance their beauty, elderly people eat to calm their nerves and help them sleep, and children eat to stimulate their appetite and invigorate their spleen. In ancient times, it was a tribute from the Western Regions to the imperial court, and only the royal family could afford to consume medicinal herbs.

Let's take a look at what the Compendium of Materia Medica says about cooking Cistanche deserticola (Dayun) with lamb, which can treat "five labor and seven injuries", cold and hot diseases in the abdomen, strengthen yin and benefit essence, "with its warmth and moistening, smoothness and not diarrhea, frequent nourishment without steepness, steepness and essence of blood, and promoting yang and helping people"-- Ming Li Shizhen.

Cistanche deserticola

The appearance of Cistanche deserticola is very strange, with a root-like structure and a thick and flat cylindrical stem. The flesh is thick and the main stem protrudes, and the lower part is thicker. The diameter can reach 10 centimeters, and the length is generally 40 centimeters to 160 centimeters. Giant ones can reach 91 centimeters and weigh about 5 kilograms. They are all buried in sandy land.
The fleshy leaves of Cistanche deserticola are very small, arranged like scales in a tile-like spiral pattern at the bottom of the stem, tightly adhering to the periphery of the fleshy stem.
The flower buds of Cistanche deserticola are the only part exposed to the ground, blooming from May to June every year. The thick cylindrical inflorescence is spike-shaped and blooms at the top of the stem, with a cylindrical bell-shaped corolla. The fruit bears from June to July every year, and the seeds are like small sesame seeds, oval-shaped or elliptical in shape, with a glossy appearance.
The unique growth of Cistanche deserticola is a perennial parasitic herb that often parasitizes the roots of the "pioneer of desertification control" plant, the red willow. Each red willow activates the life form of Cistanche deserticola.
A continuous supply of nutrients is transported from the gradually thickening roots of the red willow to the embryo (parasitic disc) of the Cistanche deserticola, with an "umbilical cord" connecting the two, resembling a mother's connection to the fetus in her womb.
Cistanche deserticola can grow in rare arid desert areas with temperatures ranging from minus 40 ℃ to above 60 ℃. The harsh living environment has created its resilient qualities and extraordinary value.
The singularity and fragility of desert ecology itself is a harsh test of "natural selection". Only a life with strong character and an understanding of symbiosis and dedication can last endlessly in the long river of time and space. The combination of Cistanche deserticola and Red Willow is both accidental and inevitable.

chinese herb cistanche

A seed of Cistanche deserticola needs to go through 2-3 years of underground growth and extreme cold and heat from the day it combines with the red willow. When it reaches maturity, it breaks through the soil and emerges.
It needs to complete all the processes of flowering and seed setting before the rainy season arrives, with an average daily growth of 7-8 centimeters. From the scorching brilliance to the withering of the lamp, accumulating for three years is only for one day's inheritance.
Hotan is rich in Cistanche deserticola, especially in the Taklamakan Desert of Lopu County, which is an authentic production area. The unique natural environment here is most suitable for the growth of Cistanche deserticola.
Due to the abundant supply of Kunlun Mountain glacier meltwater and atmospheric precipitation underground, coupled with the application of drip irrigation technology in desert agriculture, Hotan County has become the most suitable place in China to develop artificial cultivation of Cistanche deserticola. Cistanche deserticola also thrives under the nourishment of Kunlun Mountain snow water.

The unique effect of Cistanche deserticola is that it lives on the roots of red willows and grows underground. When it accumulates enough nutrients and grows large enough, it will elongate upwards, emerge from the sandy soil, and then bloom, pollinate, and bear seeds. We are looking for the Cistanche deserticola that is about to break through the soil, which has a high nutrient content.
The harvesting of Cistanche deserticola is from late March to late April in spring, selecting tall and robust ones for harvesting while retaining young and weak ones for harvesting before the frozen soil in autumn or the following year. The cracks appearing on the acupoint surface can roughly determine the location of Cistanche deserticola.

Harvest of Cistanche deserticola

The harvested Cistanche deserticola should be placed flat in a well-lit and ventilated area to dry, and should not be soaked, rained, or infested with insects. When the fleshy stem changes from yellow to brown and the moisture content is below 15%, place it in a ventilated and dry place. Cistanche deserticola is famous at home and abroad for its unique medicinal functions of tonifying the kidney, anti-aging, anti-senile dementia, regulating immunity, anti-oxidation, strengthening physical strength, anti-radiation, sedation, promoting wound healing, protecting ischemic myocardium, improving digestive function, protecting nerves, protecting the liver, relieving constipation, tumor adjuvant treatment, and improving memory.
Cistanche deserticola is also praised as a "desert delicacy" and a unique Chinese medicine. In the Shennong Bencao Jing, Cistanche deserticola is listed as a top-grade herb. It has the highest frequency of appearance in traditional Chinese medicine classics throughout history and is second only to ginseng in anti-aging and anti-aging ancient prescriptions.
There is another story about Xinjiang Hetian Cistanche in the local area. In Yutian County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, there is Laisu Changshou Village, known as the "fourth largest longevity town in the world". There are 2400 people in the village, including 167 elderly people over 60 years old, 30 elderly people over 80 years old, and 16 elderly people over 100 years old. What an astonishing number! It is amazing that the centenarians here rarely have "high" symptoms, and they are full of energy and radiance. The elderly say that every time they stew lamb soup or make tea, they always add some local treasure - "Cistanche deserticola". This dietary habit has been passed down from generation to generation here.

Old Man and Cistanche deserticola

Click here to view Cistanche Tubulosa Extract Natural Supplement Powder

【Ask for more】 Email:cindy.xue@wecistanche.com / Whats App: 0086 18599088692 / Wechat: 18599088692

There is a saying among the people that goes, 'I would rather have a basket of Cistanche than a bed full of gold and jade.'. In addition to its rarity and excellent medicinal properties, Cistanche deserticola also has many priceless qualities.
It coexists and prospers with the red willow. The red willow soothes the raging "red bull" and makes green the new color of the desert, while the beautiful Cistanche flower makes the desert oasis a highly ornamental natural garden.
Due to the successful implementation of artificial cultivation of Cistanche deserticola in Hotan, the Taklamakan Desert - once a "sea of death" - has become a "gold and silver mountain", and farmers and herdsmen who once suffered from sandstorms have achieved "sand and sand gold mining".