Canadian students travel far for mushrooms in Changshan

A group of Canadian university students recently flew to Changshan, a county in Quzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province, spending 10 days there to see mushrooms.

The students, from eight universities across Ontario, took part in the field biology course. During their visit, they toured an edible mushroom company in Changshan, where they visited a mushroom museum, a facility that produces mushroom-growing substrate blocks, and cultivation greenhouses.

They learned about how lion's mane mushrooms are cultivated and followed the entire production process for the growing blocks, from mixing raw materials such as sawdust and cottonseed hulls to high-temperature sterilization and inoculation.

The group was led by Xu Jianping, a professor at McMaster University in Canada. He said Changshan's climate and ecology are well suited to growing edible mushrooms, while its long history of mushroom cultivation makes it an ideal place for students to gain hands-on experience.

The students also sampled mushroom dishes and came away impressed by Changshan. One student marveled at the food and technology they encountered in the small county.

Changshan is known for its edible mushrooms in China and was among the earliest in the country to develop large-scale artificial cultivation of lion's mane mushrooms.

During the study tour, the Canadian group got a firsthand look at the entire mushroom production chain, from mushroom strains to industrial cultivation. They also left with a taste of Changshan, and a new appreciation for its mushrooms to take back to Canada.