[00:01.76]Yartsa gunbu has been used as a traditional remedy for thousands of years
[00:07.74]Though only by the very wealthy.
[00:10.49]It's been bartered for tea and silk
[00:12.80]And is worth more than four times its weight in silver.
[00:16.60]So lucrative is this trade,that sites and information are jealously guarded.
[00:27.54]At the nearby market, yartsa gunbu are cleaned
[00:31.41]And their true nature becomes clear.
[00:35.25]The yartsa gunbu translates as "summer grass,winter worm".
[00:41.04]The winter worm is a caterpillar.
[00:45.26]It eats roots of grasses, in preparation for its transformation into a moth.
[00:56.73]But some winter worms never make it as moths.
[01:00.41]Instead,a strange growth erupts from their body
[01:03.62]Appearing above ground in summer.
[01:07.06]This is the "summer grass"
[01:09.47]A fungus called Cordyceps, whose spores have infected the caterpillar
[01:14.49]Using its body as their host.
[01:19.53]Modern scientific tests have shown that substances contained in Cordyceps
[01:24.46]lower blood pressure and make it easier to breathe.
[01:28.49]So in recent years,harvesting this natural treasure
[01:32.18]has grown into a huge and profitable business.

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.