1kg ginseng bamboo shoot: Rare item, 100 years old, priced at hundreds of millions

Pointing to a ginseng root being placed on a scale in his house, Mr. Minh in Sapa (Lao Cai) boasted: "This root was found near the top of Hoang Lien Son mountain range, extremely rare because now the quantity can be counted on the fingers."

Mr. Minh said that the ginseng root was still fresh with leaves, weighed 1.05kg, was about 80cm long, and had over 80 segments - each segment was equivalent to one year of age. However, he counted only 80 segments, and there was another segment because the tree was too old and some of the bark had been eaten by termites, so the segments could not be counted. This root was found by a forest ranger on a cliff at an altitude of 2,300 meters near the top of Hoang Lien Son.

Recently, many customers have called to offer hundreds of millions of dong to buy this ginseng root, but he has not agreed to sell.

According to Mr. Minh, this ginseng variety was previously found in abundance in Tibet at an altitude of 4,000-5,000m. But this ginseng species later became completely depleted due to over-exploitation.

In our country, bamboo ginseng is found on the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. This ginseng species sheds its leaves once a year and grows a new segment. Each year it only produces 3-4 leaves and each leaf has 7 lobes. The ginseng root grows up to the sky, but after a few years, the stem becomes too heavy, it collapses, and is covered by leaf litter, so that the stem is submerged in the soil and rocks.

Mr. Minh also said that in fact, the name "Tieu Truc Nhan Sam" is the name the Chinese use to call this rare herb. In Vietnam, ethnic minorities often call it "Tuong That Hoang" (forest Panax Notoginseng) or "Kon That Thach Dac". However, they differ from other wild Panax Notoginseng in terms of altitude. "Tieu Truc Nhan Sam" is often found at altitudes above 2,000m, while "Tuong That Hoang" is found at lower altitudes.

The reason they are so expensive is because the medicinal properties of this bamboo ginseng are equivalent to Ngoc Linh ginseng. Currently, they are gradually depleted, so ginseng roots that are about 100 years old to 200-300 million are extremely rare.

Previously, in 2015, “forest man” Tran Ngoc Lam - who had been dying of lung cancer for 15 years - entered the Hoang Lien Son forest, climbed to the top of Fansipan and discovered many precious medicinal plants. Among them, he found an 800-year-old ginseng root at an altitude of 2,700m.

According to scientists, the 800-year-old “ginseng” that Mr. Lam found cannot be valued. Because it is impossible to find a second root with such a long lifespan in Korea and North Korea. In Vietnam, a 200-300-year-old ginseng root is already very rare.

At that time, if sold, he could get billions, but Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam was determined not to sell, he chopped it into pieces and distributed a little to his friends and neighbors, and soaked the rest in alcohol to drink for fun.

Talking to PV.VietNamNet, physician Bui Hong Minh, permanent vice president of the Ba Dinh Oriental Medicine Association, said that calling it wild ginseng or bamboo shoots depends on the place. But bamboo shoots ginseng is an ancient name. And if it is truly bamboo shoots ginseng with a root weighing more than 1kg and nearly 100 years old, it is considered rare and valuable, with a market price of hundreds of millions.

According to physician Minh, even Ngoc Linh ginseng, bamboo ginseng or wild ginseng are often the same, the value of the giant tubers always depends on the buyer. If the buyer likes it, they can pay up to hundreds of millions, even billions of dong and vice versa. As for whether the goods are real or fake, they must be tested to know exactly.