Zhangshu sits on the Gan River in Jiangxi Province, at a point where river trade routes have met for centuries. Goods moving north and south had to pass through — and herbs moved with them.

By the Song and Ming dynasties, the town had grown into one of China's great medicine markets. Processors here developed craft in cleaning, slicing, drying and curing herbs — techniques that were passed down from generation to generation.

That is why the old saying holds: 'No herb is complete until it passes through Zhangshu, and none is effective until it leaves Zhangshu.' Merchants knew that herbs handled in Zhangshu were handled right.

Today, that tradition lives on. The same families that supplied local pharmaceutical companies for generations are still here, still processing herbs by hand. When we say we work directly with Zhangshu's craftsmen, we mean the people whose trade runs in their blood.

For international buyers, this heritage matters in a practical way: the herbs we export come from a market with 1,800 years of quality expectations built into how they are grown, processed and graded.