Chinese are some of the first to discover and cultivate orchids. One of the first orchid depicted on pottery and praised in the poetry is Dendrobium moniligorme Tie pi Shi hu. Even today in China people drink the dried pseudobulbs and the flowers ot this orchid in a form of a tea for longevity and rejuvenation. Together with Dendrobium nobile (Shi hu) it is one of the nine herbs of immortality. The other herbs are:
3. Saussurea involucrata Tian Shan Xue Lian (from Tian Shan Mountain)
4. Panax ginseng San Liang Zhong Ren Shen (three liang of ginseng),
5. Wolfiporia extensa He Shou Wu, Fu Ling (cycle of sixty years)
6. Cistanche deserticola Cong Rong
7. Ganoderma lucidum Shen Shan Ling Zhi
8. Pearls Hai Di Zhen Zhu
9. Ophiocordyceps sinensis Dong Chong Xia Cao