After snow in the old Suoyang City in Gansu Province, strangely some areas won't be covered in snow, and if you dig a little you might find the precious wild suoyang. Dubbed as the "ginseng in the desert," suoyang（锁阳）or Cynomorium songaricum is mainly found in the desert region of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in northwest China. 

The dark red plant has a spherical outlook when it's young and most of its body is buried underground. It gradually turns oval and pillar-like as it grows mature. Miraculously, suoyang thrives at a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius. Wherever it grows, the area around it won't have accumulated snow and frozen soil. The snow will immediately melt as soon as it touches the ground. Thus, the plant is called the elixir of life.

Though the plant doesn't have the magical effect of prolonging life, the fleshy stems of suoyang are often used as traditional Chinese medicine for tonifying the kidney. As a holoparasite herb, suoyang mainly attaches to the roots of the plant under the Nitraria and Reaumuria genus. During the winter when those plants stop growing, suoyang absorbs the nutrients from them and quickly sprout in the next spring.

The tough plant was once considered a life-saving straw for people. According to the legend, Suoyang City was originally called Kuyu City. During a war in the Tang Dynasty, many soldiers from the Tang Army were besieged in the city and starving to death in the frigid winter, until one of them dug out a plump suoyang and felt refreshed after eating the plant. The general then ordered soldiers to dig out these plants for food and ended up winning the war. Emperor Taizong of Tang later named the city "suoyang" for its contribution to the war.

China's Flora Tour

From the wetlands along the coast to the dense rain forests hidden in the southwest of China, all boast an array of plant species. In this series, we will go on a tour to learn about some of the most iconic flora in different provinces and see how they live in harmony with the local climate and topography. 

(Cover image designed by CGTN's Li Yueyun.)

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