Dragon Herbs practices Tonic Herbalism, which is based on a 5000 year old system of health promotion, protection, and psychological transformation.

The highest level of health care stresses the promotion of positive health as the primary goal. When sufficiently nurtured, our body is fully capable of regulating its own multitude of independent yet united functions, the way nature intended. Science has not been able to, and will never be able to, match that power of Nature. The herbs used for this approach have traditionally been called the superior herbs, but today they are called the tonic herbs. The utilization of the tonic herbs is called Tonic Herbalism.

The tonic herbs are the elite herbs of the Chinese herbal system, the most fully developed herbal system in the world. The Chinese tonic herbs have always held a very special place in Asian culture. These very special natural substances have been associated with the highest qualities of living. The tonic herbs are not harsh and are not specifically medicinal in the conventional sense. 

Tonic herbs come from China. They also come from North and South America, Europe, Indonesia, Tibet, Bhutan, Africa, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Russia and almost every region of the world. Tonic herbs are by their very nature safe and may be used for a lifetime.

The “Di Tao” of Herbs 

There’s a great concept in China known as Di Tao. The literal translation of Di Tao is “Earth Tao,” or “the Way of the Earth.” The Chinese dictionary definition of Di Tao is “from the place noted for the product ~ genuine, authentic, not from an inferior or counterfeit source.” According to the regulations of the Chinese Pharmacopeia, all herbal products manufactured and sold in China must utilize herbs that are Di Tao - that is, the herbs must come from a source that is considered legitimate and genuine.

All plants are the product of their growing environment and conditions. Different regions have their distinctive make-up of water, soil, sunshine, climate, and biological distribution. The varying methodologies adopted by different regions in their cultivation, collection, and final preparation of the herbs further differentiate the herbs from different sources. The Di Tao source of an herb is gradually established through the historical use of the herbs. By documenting how herbs from different origins differ in their pharmacological effects on the human body, the regions or sources that produce the most desired results have slowly come to be recognized as the authentic genuine source, Di Tao, both by common knowledge among the practicing herbalists as well as by government supported official recognition in the materia medica.

Heaven Mountain® Goji Berries is one such example. The water, the soil, the sunshine and the weather have the precise qualities necessary for producing the best, richest, tastiest, most potent Goji berries on Earth. As a result, they have an extraordinary and balanced phyto-nutrient profile.

Water

As part of the enormous Gobi Desert that covers southern Mongolia and northern China, Xin Jiang receives little to no rain each year. Every drop of water in the growing fields is derived from the melted snow and glacial runoff from the pristine Heaven Mountain. This water is pure and structured – it is nature’s ultimate irrigation system.

Soil

The virgin land of the Gobi Desert has little vegetation. It has a very high content of alkaline minerals. The pH level of the soil can be as high as 8.7 (17 times more alkaline than neutral) and the soil salt content can reach 1%. Few plants can survive in this kind of harsh environment. Goji, however, being an extremely adaptable plant, thrives here.

Daylight Duration

Xin Jiang province has the longest daylight duration among all provinces in China (Tibet included). It averages 2550 to 3300 hours of sunshine per year. The intensive sun light allows for much more productive photosynthesis in the Goji plants, leading to more flesh, sweeter taste, and naturally, higher content of active ingredients such as Lycium Polysaccharides (LBP).

Precipitous Daily Temperature Fluctuation

Another unique weather characteristic of Xin Jiang is the precipitous temperature fluctuation between day and night, usually as much as 36 to 45 °F within a single day. The locals joke that in Xin Jiang, no traveling is necessary in order to experience the four seasons within one day. It is quite common that you start the day with a winter jacket, strip down to a silk shirt at noon, then at night, you can enjoy their famous watermelons, next to a bonfire, that is.

The Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China has officially certified Heaven Mountain goji berries as Di Tao.

Heaven Mountain® Goji Berries, a GREEN hero in reversing desertification. 

Not only are the Heaven Mountain® Goji Berries good for you, they are good for the earth as well. 

Because of Gojis’ superb adaptability, they thrive where other plants fail to survive. The Goji plants are drought tolerant, cold resistant, and they can endure, and even thrive in, saline and alkaline soil. Goji plants have highly developed root branches which bind firmly with the soil. Many Goji trees are being planted in northern and western China as a wind breaker, sand binder and soil ameliorator as part of a program to reverse desertification.

 Himalayan Goji, a myth still to be demystified. 

Whether or not Goji originated from the Himalayas is still being heatedly debated, the Gojis that do come to the West all share one country of origin, China. Many of them labeled as Himalayan, some labeled as Tibetan Wild Crafted. With Tibet being the only Himalayan region of China, it can be reasonably presumed that all the Himalayan/Tibetan Gojis come from Tibet.

So, does Tibet historically or currently or actually grow Goji? Well, we have found no evidence of that, not as of yet. Of the many materia medica that provide detailed description of Lycium barbarum (Goji), none ever mentioned Tibet as a geological origin of Goji, wild or cultivated. Ron Teeguarden, master herbalist and author of The Ancient Wisdom of the Chinese Tonic Herbs published by Warner Books, has been a purveyor of Lycium barbarum since 1971. Ron has visited Himalayas numerous times. He has never known of Himalayan Goji in his 40 years of herbal career. We have color coded every province of China that has been documented as growing Goji, Tibet is not on that list. Even the author who wrote the book Goji, the Himalayan Health Secret that introduced Goji to the West does NOT suggest Himalayan Gojis are attainable in any way.

“The sad truth is that you can’t (get Goji berries of Himalayan Origin). There simply aren’t enough to go around. Goji vines are not cultivated in the Himalayas; they simply grow in the wild, often in the most inaccessible places.

If Tibet does not grow Goji, then where do all the Himalayan Gojis on the market come from? A myth still to be demystified.

In addition, there is no written historical record of the usage of Goji in Tibet, nor is the tremendous body of scientific research conducted to date on Goji based on a Himalayan sub-species. Virtually all research on Goji has used Goji from Heaven Mountain, Xin Jiang or Northern China.

Heaven Mountain® Goji Berries are Herb Grade Serious™

Lycium Barbarum Berries