China's bullion imports fell substantially last month as demand in the world's largest consumer weakened due to record prices. According to the most recent customs data, international purchases of physical gold crashed to 136 tons in April, a 30 per cent decrease from the previous month and the lowest sum this year.

The reduction in imports comes as gold prices continue to be largely impacted by US interest rates. However, bullion's recent gain has been mostly driven by strong consumption in China, where investment opportunities are more limited than in other countries. Amid a lengthy real estate crisis, turbulent stock markets, and a weakening yuan, Chinese households and investors have flocked to gold as a haven for safety, fostering its climb to all-time highs.

China's central bank has also been a persistent buyer of gold, increasing its holdings for the 18th straight month to&nbsp;diversify its reserves and safeguard against currency devaluation. Nonetheless, the rate of these purchases slowed in April, reflecting the overall trend in the country's gold imports.

"Moderating imports may give gold bulls pause," said Soni Kumari, commodity strategist at ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. "While Chinese demand is likely to remain strong in 2024, it's set to level off."

Adding to the pressure on the gold market, Chinese officials have issued cautions about excessive speculation. In the latest effort to reduce risk-taking, the Shanghai Gold Exchange tightened margin requirements on some contracts beginning Tuesday.

As China's thirst for gold cools, market analysts will keep a careful eye on the effects on global bullion prices and the larger commodities market.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)&nbsp;

China's bullion imports fell substantially last month as demand in the world's largest consumer weakened due to record prices. According to the most recent customs data, international purchases of physical gold crashed to 136 tons in April, a 30 per cent decrease from the previous month and the lowest sum this year.

China's bullion imports fell substantially last month as demand in the world's largest consumer weakened due to record prices. According to the most recent customs data, international purchases of physical gold crashed to 136 tons in April, a 30 per cent decrease from the previous month and the lowest sum this year. The reduction in imports comes as gold prices continue to be largely impacted by US interest rates. However, bullion's recent gain has been mostly driven by strong consumption in China, where investment opportunities are more limited than in other countries. Amid a lengthy real estate crisis, turbulent stock markets, and a weakening yuan, Chinese households and investors have flocked to gold as a haven for safety, fostering its climb to all-time highs. China's central bank has also been a persistent buyer of gold, increasing its holdings for the 18th straight month to diversify its reserves and safeguard against currency devaluation. Nonetheless, the rate of these purchases slowed in April, reflecting the overall trend in the country's gold imports. "Moderating imports may give gold bulls pause," said Soni Kumari, commodity strategist at ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. "While Chinese demand is likely to remain strong in 2024, it's set to level off." Adding to the pressure on the gold market, Chinese officials have issued cautions about excessive speculation. In the latest effort to reduce risk-taking, the Shanghai Gold Exchange tightened margin requirements on some contracts beginning Tuesday. As China's thirst for gold cools, market analysts will keep a careful eye on the effects on global bullion prices and the larger commodities market. (With inputs from Bloomberg)

China’s gold imports plunge amid record prices and economic uncertainty

At the beginning of the Himalayan summer, when the snows start to melt, all the schools close for the season and Nepali parents and children move to the grasslands with enough food for a month-long journey on a quest for a herb more valuable than gold.

To find yarsagumba, families crawl through muddy fields hoping to spot a yellowish-green mummified caterpillar that resembles a disproportionate unicorn, with a dark-coloured elongated fungus growing out of a larva&rsquo;s head.

In Chinese, the two-faced creature is called dong chong xia cao, which translates as &ldquo;winter worm, summer grass&rdquo;. During the winter, yarsagumba is worm-like, but by the summer, invaded by fungus, it looks more like a plant.

Mature yarsagumba resembles nothing so much as a matchstick, thin and slender, projecting two to three centimetres above the ground across the alpine meadows of the Himalayas.

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/171588/width754/file-20170531-25691-sok3e3.jpg" />
<figcaption>
&nbsp;

(A) The stroma and sclerotium sections; (B, C) The complex of mycelial cortices and attached soil particles outside the sclerotium as indicated by arrows. Zhang et al, 2010, Author provided
</figcaption>
</figure>

&nbsp;

Himalayan viagra

To locals, the hunt is well worth it. Just one kilogram of yarsagumba can <a href="https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/yarsagumba-lifts-living-standard-of-rural-nepalis/">fetch up to US$100,000</a>. In rural Nepal, where <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-kathmandu/documents/publication/wcms_543497.pdf">jobs are limited</a>, the majority of families living at high altitudes as well as those in neighbouring regions earn their living by collecting this herb, making it by far the most <a href="https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.833518">valuable commodity around</a>.

Bu why is it so lucrative? The name is a hint: yarsagumba is also known as &ldquo;Himalayan Viagra&rdquo; due to the aphrodisiac medley of caterpillar and fungus.

It is believed that cattlemen first discovered the pharmacological benefits of the caterpillar-fungus more than a thousand years ago after noticing their yaks becoming energised from feeding on the herb.

Starting in the 1960s, people have been making tea and soups out of this mythological little plant-animal, and stuffing the belly of a duck with yarsagumba herbs before roasting.

This magic fungus was widely popularised in the 1990s, when a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2016/02/25/athletics-world-records-blow-as-wang-junxia-admits-being-part-of/">Chinese runner</a> who ate it broke <a href="http://mushroaming.com/blogs/cordyceps?page=2">two world records</a>. Since then, research on the caterpillar-fungus has intensified.

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/171580/width754/file-20170531-25664-tgynyd.jpg" />
<figcaption>
&nbsp;

A market selling &lsquo;Himalayan Viagra&rsquo; in Bhutan, and a close up of this complex chimera.
</figcaption>
</figure>

&nbsp;

The main <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233417214_Chemical_Constituents_of_Yarsagumba_Ophiocordyceps_sinensis_Berk_Sung_et_al_a_Valued_Traditional_Himalayan_Medicine">chemical constituents</a> of natural Cordyceps&rsquo;s 28 saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are palmitic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, and ergo sterol. It also includes vitamins and inorganic elements.

Chinese medicine now <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121254/">asserts that</a> that yarsagumba can cure impotence, increase libido, and resolve joint pains, as well as treat cancer and obesity.

Some of these claims have been substantiated. According to a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791983/#ref99">2016 paper</a> in the journal Pharmacognosy Review, the authors found evidence &ldquo;illustrating that O. sinensis can enhance libido and sexual performance, and can restore impaired reproductive functions, such as impotency or infertility, in both sexes.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Fungus through the looking glass

As Lewis Carroll writes in his book <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm">Through the Looking Glass</a>, &ldquo;It takes all the running you can do, to stay in the same place&rdquo;. That seems the perfect metaphor for the yarsagumba, a living relationship in which a host and a parasite are involved in a continuous arms race.

Biologically speaking, this complex chimera consists of ghost moth larvae (the Thitarodes species in caterpillar stage) infected by the parasitic entomogenous ascomycete, Ophiocordyceps sinensis.

Ghost moths are relatively large moths known for their reduced adult mouth parts and distinctive subterranean larvae, which are root-feeders of grassland soil, meaning they can feed on any parts of a plant.

The caterpillars spend several years of their lives remaining dormant in winter, and emerge as adults after pupating in early summer. Then, alas, they die; the average adult lifespan of Thitarodes is two to five days.

Thitarodes are the only hosts to the O. sinensis parasite, and young caterpillars infected by the fungal spores perish before pupation, a wildly growing mycelium having consumed the body of the larva.

After two to four weeks, a slender, sprouting body emerges from behind the head of the larva. It is an eerie death, to be sure.

Scientists don&rsquo;t entirely understand this spectacular co-evolutionary process. Because the fungus is highly host-specific and it is very difficult to rear moths in laboratories, its infection pathway is still under investigation.

<figure class="align-center "><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/171587/width754/file-20170531-25664-1xyljut.jpg" />
<figcaption>
&nbsp;

(A) Male adult moth; (B) Female adult moth; &copy; Late-instar larva; (D) Pupa. Cannon et al., 2009
</figcaption>
</figure>

&nbsp;

Humans: the final threat

In this biotrophic system in which the parasite must kill its host to survive, humans may be considered a third trophic level: we parasitise this parasitic complex.

As the medicinal value of yarsagumba is increasingly hyped, China&rsquo;s massive consumer market is clamouring for the product, causing its price to rise and spurring a veritable gold rush to Nepal&rsquo;s Himalayan belt.

But collecting these fungi before they mature prevents dispersal of their spores, and the availability of yarsagumba is declining yearly. From a 2009 peak to 2011, the <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/overharvesting-leaves-himalayan-viagra-fungus-feeling-short-1.12308">trade fell</a> by half per annum. Due to a lack of proper regulation, over-harvesting is increasingly common.

The fungi are also vulnerable to climate change. As global temperatures rise and <a href="http://www.navdanya.org/climate-change/in-the-himalayas">snowfall in the Himalayas decreases</a>, their natural habitat suffers, limiting the breeding period.

There is a darker side to the fungus fad, too. Every year, as families race to the hills for their annual yarsagumba quest, some fungus hunters &ndash; both adults and school children &ndash; <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12110240">lose their lives</a> to turf wars and the precipitous, unforgiving mountains.

In June 2009, seven Nepalese men who had climbed up the mountains to pick yarsagumba were attacked with sticks and knives, and their bodies thrown into the deep ravines.

<img alt="The Conversation" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/78558/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" width="1" />Local Buddhists, especially those of the older generation, believe that to pick yarsagumba <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12110240">is a sin</a>, in keeping with the Buddha&rsquo;s teaching that this seemingly natural treasure is actually a curse. China&rsquo;s consumers don&rsquo;t seem to mind.

&nbsp;

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/himalayan-viagra-is-threatened-by-fervent-chinese-demand-and-climate-change-78558">original article</a>.

Yarsagumba is also known as ?Himalayan Viagra? due to the aphrodisiac medley of caterpillar and fungus.

At the beginning of the Himalayan summer, when the snows start to melt, all the schools close for the season and Nepali parents and children move to the grasslands with enough food for a month-long journey on a quest for a herb more valuable than gold. To find yarsagumba, families crawl through muddy fields hoping to spot a yellowish-green mummified caterpillar that resembles a disproportionate unicorn, with a dark-coloured elongated fungus growing out of a larva’s head. In Chinese, the two-faced creature is called dong chong xia cao, which translates as “winter worm, summer grass”. During the winter, yarsagumba is worm-like, but by the summer, invaded by fungus, it looks more like a plant. Mature yarsagumba resembles nothing so much as a matchstick, thin and slender, projecting two to three centimetres above the ground across the alpine meadows of the Himalayas. (A) The stroma and sclerotium sections; (B, C) The complex of mycelial cortices and attached soil particles outside the sclerotium as indicated by arrows. Zhang et al, 2010, Author provided Himalayan viagra To locals, the hunt is well worth it. Just one kilogram of yarsagumba can fetch up to US$100,000. In rural Nepal, where jobs are limited, the majority of families living at high altitudes as well as those in neighbouring regions earn their living by collecting this herb, making it by far the most valuable commodity around. Bu why is it so lucrative? The name is a hint: yarsagumba is also known as “Himalayan Viagra” due to the aphrodisiac medley of caterpillar and fungus. It is believed that cattlemen first discovered the pharmacological benefits of the caterpillar-fungus more than a thousand years ago after noticing their yaks becoming energised from feeding on the herb. Starting in the 1960s, people have been making tea and soups out of this mythological little plant-animal, and stuffing the belly of a duck with yarsagumba herbs before roasting. This magic fungus was widely popularised in the 1990s, when a Chinese runner who ate it broke two world records. Since then, research on the caterpillar-fungus has intensified. A market selling ‘Himalayan Viagra’ in Bhutan, and a close up of this complex chimera. The main chemical constituents of natural Cordyceps’s 28 saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are palmitic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, and ergo sterol. It also includes vitamins and inorganic elements. Chinese medicine now asserts that that yarsagumba can cure impotence, increase libido, and resolve joint pains, as well as treat cancer and obesity. Some of these claims have been substantiated. According to a 2016 paper in the journal Pharmacognosy Review, the authors found evidence “illustrating that O. sinensis can enhance libido and sexual performance, and can restore impaired reproductive functions, such as impotency or infertility, in both sexes.” Fungus through the looking glass As Lewis Carroll writes in his book Through the Looking Glass, “It takes all the running you can do, to stay in the same place”. That seems the perfect metaphor for the yarsagumba, a living relationship in which a host and a parasite are involved in a continuous arms race. Biologically speaking, this complex chimera consists of ghost moth larvae (the Thitarodes species in caterpillar stage) infected by the parasitic entomogenous ascomycete, Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Ghost moths are relatively large moths known for their reduced adult mouth parts and distinctive subterranean larvae, which are root-feeders of grassland soil, meaning they can feed on any parts of a plant. The caterpillars spend several years of their lives remaining dormant in winter, and emerge as adults after pupating in early summer. Then, alas, they die; the average adult lifespan of Thitarodes is two to five days. Thitarodes are the only hosts to the O. sinensis parasite, and young caterpillars infected by the fungal spores perish before pupation, a wildly growing mycelium having consumed the body of the larva. After two to four weeks, a slender, sprouting body emerges from behind the head of the larva. It is an eerie death, to be sure. Scientists don’t entirely understand this spectacular co-evolutionary process. Because the fungus is highly host-specific and it is very difficult to rear moths in laboratories, its infection pathway is still under investigation. (A) Male adult moth; (B) Female adult moth; © Late-instar larva; (D) Pupa. Cannon et al., 2009 Humans: the final threat In this biotrophic system in which the parasite must kill its host to survive, humans may be considered a third trophic level: we parasitise this parasitic complex. As the medicinal value of yarsagumba is increasingly hyped, China’s massive consumer market is clamouring for the product, causing its price to rise and spurring a veritable gold rush to Nepal’s Himalayan belt. But collecting these fungi before they mature prevents dispersal of their spores, and the availability of yarsagumba is declining yearly. From a 2009 peak to 2011, the trade fell by half per annum. Due to a lack of proper regulation, over-harvesting is increasingly common. The fungi are also vulnerable to climate change. As global temperatures rise and snowfall in the Himalayas decreases, their natural habitat suffers, limiting the breeding period. There is a darker side to the fungus fad, too. Every year, as families race to the hills for their annual yarsagumba quest, some fungus hunters – both adults and school children – lose their lives to turf wars and the precipitous, unforgiving mountains. In June 2009, seven Nepalese men who had climbed up the mountains to pick yarsagumba were attacked with sticks and knives, and their bodies thrown into the deep ravines. Local Buddhists, especially those of the older generation, believe that to pick yarsagumba is a sin, in keeping with the Buddha’s teaching that this seemingly natural treasure is actually a curse. China’s consumers don’t seem to mind. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

?Himalayan Viagra? threatened by fervent Chinese demand and climate change

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China’s gold imports plunge amid record prices and economic uncertainty

?Himalayan Viagra? threatened by fervent Chinese demand and climate change