Frequently Asked Questions

The source of medicinal mushrooms includes wild collection and artificial cultivation. Wild mushroom resources are not only rare, not easy to collect, and are limited by natural conditions such as ecological environment and season. What's important is that many wild mushrooms are contaminated with alarmingly high levels of toxic heavy metals. However, heavy metals are not necessary for mushroom growth. According to research, mushrooms absorbing heavy metals is only a self-protection mechanism that is started when it is in a bad growth environment.

China has been cultivating mushrooms for centuries, we are the masters of mushroom cultivation, we know which areas are more suitable for mushrooms growth. All of our mushroom raw materials are from both organic certified and Dao Di planting bases. Most of our mushroom farms are built in the deep mountain, here has tons of fresh air, and crystal clean water.  Please read more about the extensive mushroom quality control measures we take.

• REISHI MUSHROOM: The Dabie Mountains, Jinzhai Country, Anhui Province, China.
• LION'S MANE MUSHROOM: Longquan County, Zhejiang Province, China.
• CORDYCEPS MILITARIS MUSHROOM: Gutian County, Fujian Province, China.
• CHAGA MUSHROOM: Living Birch Trees From Siberia.
• TURKEY TAIL MUSHROOM: Greater Khingan Range, Heilongjiang Province.
• MAITAKE MUSHROOM: Qingyuan County, Zhejiang Province, China.
• TREMELLA MUSHROOM: Gutian County, Fujian Province, China.
• SHIITAKE MUSHROOM: Qingyuan County, Zhejiang Province, China.
• PORIA COCOS MUSHROOM: The Dabie Mountains, Jinzhai Country, Anhui Province, China.
• AGARICUS BLAZEI MUSHROOM: Shangri-la, Yunnan Province, China.
• MESHIMA MUSHROOM: Linqing, Shandong Province, China.
• OYSTER MUSHROOM: Gutian County, Fujian Province, China.
• AURICULARIA AURICULA MUSHROOM: Changbai Mountains, Jilin Province, China.

Daoists use "Dao" to explore the relationship between humans and nature. Daoists emphasize that humans must conform to nature.  The effectiveness and quality of herbs differ from place to place. Dao Di refers to the district in which the herb is grown, and Di is more to do with the soil and land in which the herb is grown. This concept originates from the clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It is a unique comprehensive standard for distinguishing and controlling the quality of TCM herbs.

Dao Di herbs must be high-quality, medicinally dense herbs that have been grown in their natural habitat. This provides the herbs with the healing properties that allow them to be effective in fulfilling their purpose as medicinal herbs and tonics.

We use mature mushroom fruiting bodies, no young fruiting body, no mycelium. 

A mushroom is the "fruiting body" of a fungal organism called a basidiomycete. Fruiting bodies are high in nutrients for the human body. It contains no fillers such as Rice, Oats.

The majority of commercial mycelium producers grow it on grains like rice, oats, or sorghum. Therefore, all that grain becomes inseparable from the mycelium and remains in the final product, leading to high amounts of starch and other impurities.

We don't just sell these herbs, we take these herbs, we give them to our families, we give them to our friends. Therefore we only focus on producing products of the highest quality and purity. This is our mission, burning passion and deep desire with Qin Shan Tang. To ensure this happens our herbs go through a series of rigorous testing.

We test for: Aflatoxins, Heavy Metals, Pesticides, and Microbiological Data. We also obtain fingerprint chromatography for each of our herbs, this ensures each herb is correctly identified as the species we want to work with (eg. red reishi is Ganoderma lucidum - botanical name). We sourced the mushroom raw materials from organic farms (The organic farm mainly refers to the operation without the participation of chemical supplies (such as pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, and other artificial additives)). That's what we call it about ORGANIC. For every batch of product you order from us, we can provide you the COA (Certificates of Analysis) or help you tested in a third-party lab.

We follow the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) guidelines for heavy metals.

Our heavy metal limits are even stricter than the limits set by AHPA:

Lead: <2ppm

Arsenic: <1ppm

Cadmium: <1ppm

Mercury: <0.1ppm

There are 2 kinds of "mushroom powder":

MUSHROOM GROUND POWDER

Raw material: mushroom fruit bodies

Processing flow chart: Fruit bodies - > Grind it into fine powder -> mushroom ground powder

Mushroom ground powder generals contain 2%-5% natural Polysaccharides, it's a kind of full-spectrum of mushroom just like eating the mushroom.

We have almost 16 kinds of mushrooms, all can be made into ground powder.

MUSHROOM EXTRACT POWDER

Raw material: mushroom fruit bodies

Processing flow chart: mushroom fruit bodies - > extraction, concentration, refined -> mushroom extract powder

Specifications: Beta-glucan 10%,20%,30%,40%, Polysaccharides10%,20%,30%,40%

We take dried mushrooms and grind them into a fine powder.

Then we will cook them multiple times with water and/or alcohol. Water to release water-soluble compounds. Alcohol to release non-water soluble compounds.

This cooking breaks down the cell walls of the mushroom allowing for the extraction of the beneficial compounds (beta-glucans, triterpenes, etc.). The mushroom cell walls are made up of chitin, which our bodies do not have the enzymes to break down properly so if we just eat fresh mushrooms the active compounds are not as bioavailable to us. Hence, the requirement for extraction.

The resulting liquid from cooking the mushrooms is drained off and concentrated to the desired consistency. If any alcohol is used in the extraction, it is precipitated out (removed).

The liquid is then sent to a spray dryer, which removes all the water, leaving you with the final powder.

So the final liquid is now a powder without any of the water and/or alcohol.

"Real change will only happen when we fall in love with our plant. Only love can show us how to live in harmony with nature and with each other and save us from the devastating effects of environmental destruction and climate change."

The majority of medicinal mushrooms are grown on sawdust. This sawdust is a byproduct of local sawmills. Mushrooms are great at recycling waste materials and this is a perfect example. Sawdust that might normally be thrown away or burned, can be used to grow mushrooms on.

Some mushrooms such as reishi, which is grown on individual hardwood logs in the ground. These logs come from locally sourced trees and they are paid. Before purchasing wood, we need to apply for the Felling License from the Ministry of forestry of China. The government will approve the sale of a certain amount of wood to us. At the same time, the paid money will be used for planting as many trees as we used.

Reishi Mushroom, Grown on: Chestnut tree wood logs

Lion's mane, Maitake, Tremella, Shiitake, Oyster Mushroom, Grown on: sawdust

Chaga Mushroom, Grown on: Sustainable Harvest Chaga grows on aging birch trees. Farmer harvest all of the Chaga we use in our products in the Winter months to ensure there is no damage done to it's living host Birch. As the sap of Birch retreats to the roots in Winter, it makes it the most responsible time to harvest from the tree as not to create a "bleeding wound". And they always leave a generous portion of Chaga on the host Birch to ensure that the living relationship continues.

Cordyceps militaris Mushroom, Grown on: Solid-state fermentation(agar, glucose, wheat)

Agaricus blazei Mushroom, Grown on: straw, sawdust

Turkey tail, Poria cocos Mushroom, Grown on: Pine tree wood logs

Meshima Mushroom, Grown on: Mulberry tree wood logs

Our extracts range from 10:1 to 26:1, but we do not list them specifically as we believe extract ratios have only limited value when not accompanied with active compound testing. For example, without analytical testing, there’s no way to know whether a 20:1 extract is more concentrated than a 10:1 extract. It is also possible to have two products with the same extract ratio yet with completely different levels of active compounds. 

Also, note that the higher the extract ratio, the more dense and sticky the final product gets, so to keep it as a free-flowing powder, a carrier is often added. It will dilute the potency. This is why the measurement of active compounds and starch is so essential.

Extract ratios can also be misrepresented. For example, fresh mushrooms are typically 90% water, so the wet to dry ratio is 10:1. Some products use this ratio, saying their products are a 10:1 extract (10lb of fresh mushrooms = 1lb of powder) when in reality it’s just a 1:1 (1lb of dried mushrooms = 1lb of powder). The weight of the dry mushrooms is what should be used to calculate all extract ratios.

Without analytical testing of active compounds and starch measurements to show purity, extract ratios have limited value. A higher extract ratio does not equate to higher potency.

For these reasons, we do not specifically publish our extract ratios. If you’d like to know, contact us.

The number of active compounds in our products is some of the highest in the marketplace, and the low levels of starch demonstrate the purity of our products.

BETA-GLUCANS: THE BEST TYPE OF POLYSACCHARIDE

Mushrooms (or basidiomycetes) contain many different forms of polysaccharides but the most important compounds are identified as the beta-D-glucans. Beta-glucans come in various forms. The main one has what is known as 1-3,1-6 branching, or (1-3)(1-6) beta-D-glucans. This refers to the structural characteristics with particular designations (1-3) describing the linking pattern in the long-chain molecule. (1-3)(1-6) beta-D-glucans are specific to fungi and yeast. Oats and grains also contain beta-glucans but they have a different branching structure, which is (1-4)-beta-glucans.

The important difference when comparing the various sources of polysaccharides is that beta-glucans (and cellulose) are beta-linked while other forms such as starch are alpha-linked, otherwise known as alpha-glucans (α-Glucans).  This leads us to the problems with alpha-glucans (starch/glycogen) and their cause for much of the confusion within the functional mushroom industry. So Polysaccharides are a poor measurement of mushroom extract quality.

Beta-glucan is the most well-researched medically active compound in mushrooms. After concentrated extraction, we can get a high level of mushroom beta-glucan. Mushrooms generally do not contain starch. However, they only contain small amounts of glycogen. Typically less than 5%. Starch and glycogen are both alpha-glucans. Some other companies adding starch in order to reduce the cost. However, we never add starch to our mushroom extract powder. So it will make the final extract powder contains less than 5% alpha-glucan.

Yes, we do! We offer international shipping to most locations in the world. Usually, we use DHL Air Express, it's fast and reliable.

This is a standard express service and shipping times will vary depending on location. Delivery timeframes are estimated from the time your package is dispatched from our warehouse in China, to its delivery in the metro location of your destination country. Delivery timeframes do not include the time your package spends in customs. Please see the DHL website here for delivery timeframes.

Customers are responsible for all import duties, taxes, and other charges associated with their Qin Shan Tang purchase/s. Before confirming your purchase it is advisable to check in with your local customs office to determine what additional costs your order may incur on arrival at your desired delivery destination.

Countries That DHL Supported:

DHL calculates the freight according to the shipping weight. Generally speaking, there are three price grades:

1-20KG

21-29KG

>30KG

Please note that the DHL company can provide a big discount for freight weight over 20kg. 

You can contact us to know the latest shipping cost.

We are using Domestic Wire Transfer, which is an electronic transfer of funds to a domestic receiving account using Qin Shan Tang's remittance channel partners with local currency instead of wiring funds to an overseas bank. After you confirmed your order, We will give you a quotation and provide you our bank account information.

Key benefits of Domestic Wire Transfer compared with normal International Wire Transfer

Transfer limit and channel partners

Region#

The United States of America, Canada, Australia, The United Kingdom, Europe(including: Aland Islands, Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin (French part), Saint Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland)

Remittance channel#

Please use the recommended remittance channels and currency when wiring funds.