Man sells edible wild fungi in SW China's Yunnan to consumers nationwide through live-streaming

As many as 257 varieties of edible wild fungi are available at a wild fungi market in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. (China Youth Daily/Li Chao)

Zhao Zeyi, a man born after 1990, was promoting edible wild fungi in a live-streaming session at a market in Kunming city, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. The market is the largest edible wild fungus market in the country.

The market was filled with people as early as 4 a.m., with many of them being live-streaming salespersons, including Zhao.

A native in Yunnan, Zhao started to sell edible wild fungi through livestreams more than a month ago. He drove to the market every day and then opened a livestream, discussing edible wild fungi, including their living environment, varieties, and how they were collected and cooked, to his viewers.

After receiving orders, he directly sent out parcels containing edible wild fungi from the market.

"Yunnan is a big producer of edible wild fungi. There has been rising demand for the products from nonnative consumers, and my livestreams open a channel for them to be able to buy the products," Zhao said.

The rainy season is the best time of the year to enjoy edible wild fungi.

Also a real estate agent, Zhao started to sell houses online in August 2022. In February 2023, Zhao sold more than 10 houses on the livestream platform. For him, selling edible wild fungi through livestreams is not difficult, and all he invests is time.

There are many live-streaming salespersons just like Zhao who are seizing the opportunity to sell edible wild fungi at this time of the year. To avoid competition, Zhao chose to host live-streaming sessions after midnight, explaining that people show a stronger desire to buy at night.

Zhao sold houses in the day and edible wild fungi at night. Later, he found that more viewers watched his shows at around 5 to 6 a.m., so he rescheduled his live-streaming sessions.

Zhao hosted nearly 70 livestreams in around 40 days. His shows offered a glimpse of how edible wild fungi were collected, the hustle and bustle of the edible wild fungi market, and knowledge of edible wild fungi.

"In the future, I plan to promote Yunnan's fresh-cut flowers, as well as apples and pepper from Yunnan's Zhaotong city, which is my hometown, through livestreams," said Zhao.