08-10-2010, 11:12 AM
[url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7935350/Chinese-soldiers-invade-India-in-pursuit-of-valuable-love-flower.html"]Chinese soldiers invade India in pursuit of valuable 'love flower'[/url]
Chinese soldiers are crossing the Indian border to gather lucrative rare mushrooms, reputed to have aphrodisiac properties, that sell for ã3,000 a kilogramme.
Chinese soldiers are crossing the Indian border to gather lucrative rare mushrooms, reputed to have aphrodisiac properties, that sell for ã3,000 a kilogramme.
Quote:It grows at high altitude on remote Himalayan peaks along the border areas of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and India and has been prized as a herbal medicine in Tibet and China since the 15th century.
Indian officials said troops from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are sneaking across the disputed MacMahon Line border.
While the fungus, which has been dubbed the 'love flower,' is not particularly valued in India, its value has soared in China as an aphrodisiac.
"There have been instances of sporadic intrusion into the Indian side by the PLA in small groups .They come, stay there for a while and then go back," said Arunachal Pradesh's home minister Tako Dabi. "When they meet locals or are challenged by security officials the Chinese military personnel usually say they have entered Indian territory to collect wild fungus from the mountains. They call it the 'love flower".
Gen J.J Singh, Arunachal Pradesh's Governor, sought to play down the seriousness of 'incursions' yesterday, and said Chinese villagers were the main smugglers coming across into India.