Farmers in Zhangye, Gansu province, are extra busy in June during watermelon harvest. CHINA DAILY

"It's the time for food lovers to enjoy a feast of otherwise rarely seen mushrooms," says Dong Hao, a freelancer whose hometown is Tengchong in the southwestern part of Yunnan, a city that proudly boasts its famous termite mushrooms which can only be found in mountainous areas.

Dong says for people who grew up in Tengchong, the first thunderstorm during xiaoshu is special, as it signifies that it's time to dig out the special mushrooms that can only be found in the nests of termites.

After hearing the awakening thunderstorm, people get up in the morning and head out to mountainous areas to locate these mushrooms that grow in the same place every year. It means that once they are found, their location remains a closely guarded secret. So people have their own unique map of termite nests to dig out the seasonal mushrooms.

Dong recalls that it was a big achievement for him to find one termite nest when he was a child and that he would be praised by his parents back then. Regarded as a novelty, termite mushrooms are expensive, so people who find them usually sell them for a good price instead of cooking them at home.