Why Hu Ru Ling Zhi is Hainan’s “local specialty”?
Hainan Hu Ru Ling Zhi: Why does the list of Hainan’s “local specialties” include this gem?
Hu Ru Ling Zhi (scientific name: Lignosus rhinocerus, global name: Tiger milk mushroom, Chinese name: 虎乳灵芝) Local specialties refer to products originating from a specific region, with regional cultural connotations and unique qualities, and which are more difficult to obtain in markets outside the region. These products are not only the crystallization of local natural environment and human history, but also an important symbol of regional characteristics. Their quality characteristics are often highly correlated with local climate, soil, water quality, traditional craftsmanship and other elements, and are unrepeatable. From agricultural products to handicrafts, from food to traditional Chinese medicine, local specialties cover a wide range of fields, and each specialty carries a unique cultural memory. For example, Xinjiang cantaloupe, Yunnan Pu’er tea and Inner Mongolia cheese have all become iconic products by virtue of their irreplaceable ecological conditions and humanistic deposits.
1, what are the local specialties in Hainan?
This tropical island with beautiful scenery is also rich in local specialties. As China’s only tropical island province, Hainan specialties mainly include tropical agricultural products, marine derivatives and ethnic handicrafts, common categories are as follows:
Fresh meat and poultry field:
Wenchang chicken: known for its tender meat, thin skin and crispy bone, ranked as the first of Hainan’s four famous dishes
Gaji Duck: white skin and red meat, fat but not greasy, a common delicacy for banquets
Dongshan Sheep: produced in Wanning Dongshanling, the meat is tender and non-tanky.
Huale Crab: full of meat, Hainan seafood masterpieces
Tropical fruits and crops:
Qiongzhong green oranges, Sanya mangoes, Yongxing lychees, Chengmai oranges, etc., due to the unique light and heat conditions resulting in sweet flesh. Coconut candy, coconut powder, dried pineapple honey and other specialty snacks are widely favored by tourists and have become the business card of Hainan cuisine.
Ethnic crafts and medicinal herbs:
Li brocade, coconut carving and other handicrafts inherit the national culture; pepper, betel nut, mountain orchid wine both edible and medicinal value; Xinglong coffee integration of overseas Chinese culture and tropical planting advantages.
In recent years, relying on the ecological advantages of rubber forest development of Hainan Hu Ru Ling Zhi, red bamboo fungus and other fungi, is becoming a new star of local specialties. These products not only carry Hainan ecological genes, but also through the extension of the industrial chain has become an important engine of rural revitalization.
2, Hainan Hu Ru Ling Zhi’s “evolution of specialty”
Although Hu Ru Ling Zhi has now become a “Hainan specialty,” it is only in recent years that a breakthrough has been made to realize large-scale imitation wild cultivation in Hainan.
According to the Hainan Biodiversity Survey Report, Hainan’s unique climate and ecological environment provide ideal conditions for the growth of Hu Ru Ling Zhi, an environmentally demanding fungus that only grows around specific trees and is scarce and precious in the wild.
Many people mistakenly believe that Hu Ru Ling Zhi is a Malaysian specialty, but in fact the earliest documented record can be traced back to Deng Shuqun’s “Fungi of China” in 1963. Subsequently, it was recorded in detail in the 1998 edition of Zhao Jiding’s “The Fungi of China – Volume III” and the 2021 edition of Cui Baokai and Dai Yucheng’s “The Fungi of China – Volume 58”.
The key transition from field discovery to successful artificial cultivation occurred in 2014. A team of experts from the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CAATAS) carried out laboratory cultivation of the Hu Ru Ling Zhi strain, which is unique to the Hainan rainforest, and overcame three major technical difficulties:
The first is the isolation and purification of the strain, the researchers successfully extracted the pure strain after many experiments;
Secondly, the screening of culture medium formula, through a large number of comparative tests to determine the optimal nutritional ratios;
Finally, the planting environment simulation, the first wild planting test was launched in 2019 in Baisha Yaqiao Town.
After three years of technical optimization, in 2022, Hainan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. cooperated with the local government to establish a standardized planting base by adopting the mode of “government+enterprise+village collective”. As of April 2025, the planting area exceeded 15,000 mu, covering many cities and counties in Hainan, including Baisha, directly driving farmers to increase their annual income by tens of millions of yuan.
3, “local specialties” need “ecological advantages” and “industrial support” double-wheel drive
Hainan Hu Ru Ling Zhi from the discovery to large-scale cultivation of the “ten-year sword” course, creating a model for the development of local specialty brands, which is inseparable from Hainan’s unique ecological advantages and sustained improvement of industrial support.
As China’s only tropical rainforest climate island, Hainan’s average annual temperature of 23-25 ℃, humidity 80% -90%, for Hu Ru Ling Zhi provides an ideal growing environment. More critically, the vast rubber forest creates a unique “microclimate” – the rubber canopy formed by the scattered light to avoid the nucleus of the fungus to avoid burns, transpiration to maintain 60% -70% humidity, this “forest bacteria symbiosis” model not only to protect the original rainforest (to reduce the wild digging), but also to ensure that medicinal ingredients active.
In terms of industrial cultivation, Hainan has continued to increase investment in recent years:
Establishment of Agricultural Microbial Strain Bank
Establishment of large-scale fungal germplasm resource bank
Introducing supportive policies to encourage enterprises and farmers to develop the fungus industry
During the 5th China International Consumer Goods Fair held in Hainan in 2025, Hu Ru Ling Zhi was introduced to the world as a featured exhibit. Through the exhibition display, product promotion meeting, e-commerce platform and other channels, the relevant departments and enterprises continue to enhance market awareness and build the brand value of agricultural products.
The land is writing new possibilities for tropical agriculture when the mushroom bags under ten thousand acres of rubber forests produce golden nuclei. Hainan Hu Ru Ling Zhi is successfully included in the list of Hainan’s local specialties by virtue of its unique medicinal value, innate ecological advantages and perfect industrial chain. The development of Hu Ru Ling Zhi has not only injected new kinetic energy into specialty agriculture, but also provided industrial support for the revitalization of the countryside – using industry as the pen and ecology as the paper, drawing a beautiful picture of industrial development and natural symbiosis.
Looking ahead, with the continuous progress of science and technology and the market continues to expand, Hainan Hu Ru Ling Zhi will be in a broader stage to show the unique charm of Hainan has become a bright business card. Let us look forward to this rare fungus for people to bring more health benefits, for this beautiful island to add more color.
