A matsutake merchant sorts through one villager's harvest in...

ZHONGDIAN, YUNNAN, CHINA - 2004/08/01: A matsutake merchant sorts through one villager's harvest in the mountains above Zhongdian in northern Yunnan. Prized by Japanese food lovers, when stocks were wiped out by an insect plague 15 years ago, the market looked to Yunnan. The province now supplies more than half of Japan's yearly consumption, employing more than 80% of Zhongdian's population. For the locals, matsutake madness was a revolution, increasing meager annual incomes by more than 100%. Known as "old eagle mushrooms", matsutake never rated highly with Tibetan's culinary delights, selling at the market for 1-2 RMB a kilo ($0.30). They now fetch up to $500 a kilo. But Zhongdian's newfound wealth has come at a price; villages traditionally sharing land rights now fiercely competing over picking availability to matsutake stocks, spurring violence and even murder in recent years. (Photo by Leisa Tyler/LightRocket via Getty Images)