Litsea cubeba is distributed in China and southeast Asia. It grows in the sunny hillsides, thickets, open forests and the roadside or water side in the forest which are 500-3,200 meters above sea level. Volatile aromatic oil from litsea cubeba can be obtained by distillation, which is widely used in food essence, soap fragrance compounds and cosmetics.

 

In 2018, Wang Liangzhi, head of Xianghuotang Traditional Chinese Medicine, found that the mature litsea cubebas  all rotted in the mountain, so he decided to restart the litsea cubeba production industry.

 

 

After many efforts, he finally opened the sales channels of litsea cubeba. From then on, many staffs of Xianghuotang began to buy litsea cubeba in the county.

 

Litsea cubeba doesn't need to be specially planted, because it will grow all over the mountain every year. A litsea tree will grow better in the next year if its branches are broken, so that villagers can even cut off the branches and pick the fruits at home. The purchase price is at 3.5 to 4 yuan.

 

Because there is no planting cost and is easy to harvest, the litsea cubeba becomes the “cash cow” of the villagers.

 

 

During the picking season, a villager can earn about 3,000 to 8,000 yuan, and about 300 tons of wild litsea cubeba can be produced every year, which can increase farmers’ income by more than 2.4 million yuan.

 

Now Wang Liangzhi plans to develop artificial litsea cubeba planting industry, and establish his own essential oil extraction factory, so that production, purchase and processing can become an industrial chain to promote common prosperity of the local people.