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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
These buyers paid dearly for a heap of fungus-infected larvae. Some go for $20 apiece.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Faces shielded from the sun, digging tools in hand, Tibetan families can search all day for the larvae, called yartsa gunbu. Some stalks poke barely a quarter inch out of the ground.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
A ten-year-old girl's gloved hand holds the tiny, dirt-covered biological curiosity: Yartsa gunbu is a combination of moth larva (caterpillar) and parasitic fungus. The high-priced “worms,” as the infected larvae are called, are believed to cure everything from hair loss to hepatitis.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Every day during harvest season, Tibetan sellers arrive in Serxu with their batch of worms. Here they dry them on one of the town's two streets, evaluating each: Is it undamaged and a good size? Does it have the desired yellow hue? Serxu's worms have a reputation for quality.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Tibetan sellers negotiate with urban buyers, like the man at left in Serxu, following a predictable ritual: Buyers mock the quality of the worms. Sellers hawk their wares to many buyers before striking a deal.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Serxu is booming thanks to the growing yartsa gunbu trade. Many Tibetan harvesters arrive at the market town via motorcycles that are paid for with the profits.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Women sort, clean, and bundle fungal larvae at the Zhong Shi Caterpillar Fungus Hall in Chengdu. For 1,500 high-quality worms—that's about two pounds—the firm could reap up to $100,000.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
This family can harvest more than 60 worms on a good day, earning around $600. The cream protects their faces from high-altitude windburn. The tools help them dig out worms unharmed.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
This stalk of yartsa gunbu protrudes only a half inch from the tough grass of the high Tibetan fields. It takes a sharp eye and a great deal of patience to find the stalks.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
The brisk trade in yartsa gunbu has brought money and modern conveniences to Tibetans but hasn't transformed the life of most nomadic women. Na Mo Yong Zhou wakes before her husband to care for their yak and her calf. She'll milk the mother to make butter tea.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Beneath the cloth, traders use hand gestures to negotiate for yartsa gunbu at Xining, China's largest wholesale market for the valuable worms. Conducting business undercover is part of local tradition. When the solar calculator (foreground) is used to tally final prices, it goes beneath the cloth. Money is exchanged that way too.
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Photograph by Michael Yamashita
Tibetan women in the town they call Jyekundo clean and inspect yartsa gunbu, brought from smaller towns and destined for shops in large cities in China. The region was devastated by an earthquake in 2010—that's why residents are living in tents.
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