At the lingzhi mushroom base in Dongliu Village, Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, 25-year-old Ren Jiahui is carefully checking the shooting of lingzhi mushroom in every mobile phone.

Ren’s shooting studio is filled with lingzhi mushroom bonsais. Some are dried, some are still alive. Big and small lingzhi mushrooms grow layer by layer, looking like elegant “peacocks” and “cranes” who are spreading their wings.

Ren said, “Now, lingzhi mushroom bonsai has become the first choice for decorating high-end sitting rooms, offices, guesthouses and hotels. It can also be a fashionable gift or a piece of collection. I own the only current lingzhi mushroom bonsai base in Northeast China.”

With an area of about 9 mu (0.6003 hectares), this base was founded by Ren Jiahui and his parents. Ren was conscientious in learning the planting of lingzhi mushrooms. Knowing that Liaocheng City, Shandong Province was the “hometown of lingzhi mushroom”, Ren embarked on a journey of learning. He learned from two masters and summarized his own experience, and finally got a good grasp of the whole process of planting lingzhi mushrooms.

Ren’s parents also consider lingzhi mushroom planting a promising career. This year, they gave up planting oyster mushrooms they had been growing for years and planted lingzhi mushrooms in replace. 47,000 lingzhi mushrooms are all growing well. Lingzhi mushroom has a very high medicinal value. According to the market demand, Ren Jiahui and his father Ren Mingliang have also made lingzhi mushrooms into bonsais.

Ren Jiahui randomly picked up a bonsai and introduced, “This is a living lingzhi mushroom. If it continues to grow, it will have a good shape and be able to sell at a high price. After bringing it home, customers can continue to see it growing, and it will eventually become a dried product for long-term viewing. If people have seen enough of it, they can also soak it in water to drink, without affecting the medicinal effects.”

In order to open up an outlet on the internet, Ren Jiahui started shooting videos for lingzhi mushrooms. Ren said, “I want to record the whole process of lingzhi mushroom growing by time-lapse photography, and then edit it out and post it on the online platform. I hope more and more people will follow me and get to know about the lingzhi mushroom, so as to open up more sales channels.”

Till now, Ren Jiahui’s videos have attracted more than 100,000 followers and received more than 1.7 million likes. For the upcoming sales season, Ren Jiahui is full of confidence.