Wu Xipeng is a picture of concentration as he draws a mushroom in his study. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

As a senior agronomist in Lishui – the prefecture-level city in East China's Zhejiang province – 79-year-old Wu Xipeng still spends a few days of the week on his passion: observing and recording the growth of mushrooms in the wild.

Wu, who has been dealing with edible fungi over a lifetime, is from Qingyuan county, administered by Lishui. He has successfully domesticated rare mushrooms and helped bring the delicacies to people's dinner tables.

He also developed the production technique for planting mushrooms on grass. This gave mushroom farmers – who had relied on wood chips to cultivate mushrooms for thousands of years – a new mode of production.

Today, he still spends his days doing research, painting and writing books about edible mushrooms.

Wu's study is the world of mushrooms. In the room, bottles and jars that contain varieties of rare mushrooms are packed from floor to ceiling. On the walls are pictures of mushrooms he has drawn, while on the table is an illustrated manuscript, each page complete with bilingual descriptions and illustrations.