VietNamNet Bridge - In the street for oriental medicine of Hai Thuong Lan Ong, HCM City, many people do not hesitate to pay a lot of money to purchase specialties like shark's fin, bird's nests, cordyceps roberti to enhance their virility.

Cordyceps roberti.

In 2012, the global economic crisis left many serious sequelae with tens of thousands of companies going bankrupt and many tycoons flooded in debt, but the "phantom" of crisis did not affect the market for high-end food products.

At the markets for luxurious food items like An Dong, Ben Thanh, especially Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City – the biggest traditional medicines market in Vietnam, many people still did not hesitate to buy the specialties which were reserved for kings in the past to serve themselves and to present to their bosses.

These specialties include pearl powder, ginseng, bird’s nest, abalone, shark’s fin, cordyceps roberti... These are nutritious food that was only for kings or top mandarins because the court had to send troops to the jungle or the ocean to search for these specialties.

Walking through the traditional medicine street of Hai Thuong Lan Ong, one will see a lot of shops selling the above products, which are only for the rich.

A middle-aged man stepped out from a Lexus car and entered the shop of Mrs. Nga to buy two kilos of shark’s fins and several boxes of cordyceps roberti worth nearly $1,000.

The man named Binh, 48, director of a real estate company, said he bought these products for some officials. He said this year his company operated at loss but he still had to present special gifts for some officials to maintain good relationships to benefit his future business.

"From their charwomen, I know that these officials like these specialties so I bought for them. Last year this was the task of my assistant but this year I fired him to save some money, so I have to go shopping myself,” Binh said.

At the shop owned by Mr. Nga, many people dropped to by ginseng, alcohol soaked with sea-horses, shark's fin, bird’s nest and cordyceps roberti. Mr. Nga said that they favor these products because these kinds of food are nutritious and believed to enhance men’s virility.

"Everyone has already known about the use of shark's fin and bird nest but they may not know about cordyceps roberti. Cordyceps roberti is very precious and mysterious because it is the organism that shifts between insect and plant. It originates from Tibet, with 17 amino acids, which help users supplement blood, rejuvenation, vitality, etc. so it is favored by men," Nga said.

The traders of luxurious food like Nga are very good at speaking for hours about the special feature of the products they sell, which are priced at several hundreds to a thousand of USD per kilo. The most expensive food is called “tuyet giap” (mucous membranes of a species of mountain frog on Changbai Mountain in China), which is worth more than VND30 million ($1,500) per kilo. “Tuyet giap” is collected in the spring, when the frogs undergo hibernation. At that time their bodies make the mucous membrane.

"According to traditional medicine research, this product is not only good for lung and men’s virility but also the secret for the good skin and the beauty of imperial maids in the old days," said Mrs. Nguyen, who paid a lot of money to buy “tuyet giap.”

Nguyen said she bought “tuyet giap” for herself and to present to her boss’ wife.

Rich women also buy pearl powder to apply on their faces or to drink with the belief that pearl powder can detoxify to help them have bright and smooth skin. A kilo of pearl powder is priced at VND20-40 million ($1,000-2,000).

According to the U.S. also, people do eat everyone knows some of his backyard Saturday, paying three is the grandmother minister. "All those wives enrolled as the then boss, so the benefits, such as shared confidential information, when what good is a few projects she howling ... so I take what top of the SA," said the U.S. share said.

Ngoc Linh ginseng, tiger bone glue, bile of gayals, sea-horse penis are also considered specialty that help men improve their virility.

This year is the year of the snake so decanters of alcohols with snakes, particularly with giant snakes weighing about ten kilos or more have been favored. The price for such a decanter is VND25-30 million ($1,000-1,500).

Dried penis of cobra is a new specialty, worth VND1 million ($50)/unit.

As these products are valuable, they are usually faked. "Rhinoceros horns are made from buffalo horns, tiger and snake penises are actually buffalo or cow hoof tendons, bird’s nests made from wheat flour and chemicals, ngoc linh ginseng is aralias... Deception in the world of products for kings and queens is rampant and if you are not an expert, you are easily cheated," said Dung, the owner of a big shop in Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street.

ANTG