Kunming residents connect with tourists over love of fungi

In addition to organized commercial tourism, local Yunnan residents are also engaging in this new tourism model on a more individual level.

Guo Xuan, a freelancer in Kunming who is studying for her postgraduate entrance exams, is fond of hiking in mountainous areas, which offer many opportunities for mushroom picking during the rainy seasons.

"Mushrooms often grow beside pine trees and grass. Good eyesight is required to spot edible mushrooms. When we went to pick mushrooms in late July in Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture, we were lucky to find lurid bolete, black boletus and russule. For beginners, the process of digging mushrooms is much more rewarding than the mushrooms themselves."