As you will read below, Hong Jingtian is a very important and effective herb in treating a variety of diseases, and thus has become known as the "Tibetan ginseng". Each autumn, many varieties of this herb were being picked in the mountains in West China for its medicinal value, but without botanical discrimination (whether its Shi Zi Qi or Da Hua Hong Jingtian).  The result was that Hong Jingtian became increasingly rare to the Himalayas and the potency varied, so the function of Hong Jingtian became undependable.

Therefore we decided to see if we could grow it ourselves, and were delighted with the outcome. We grew the herbs in different fields between 2700meters and 3800meters above sea level, watering with snow water, trying to achieve the most natural conditions.
We are now the only farm in the west of China that really had success cultivating the different kinds of Hong Jingtian. We do this both for medicinal purposes - to guarantee availabilty and quality, and to make it unnecessary for the previous uncontrolled picking, thus protecting this fragile environment.

The Chinese herb Hong Jingtian is known in the West as the 'red flowers of the stonecrop'.

Hong = red, Jingtian = view of heaven or heavenly view, probably due to its growth on high altitude rock faces.

This herb is in the family Crassulaceae, which yields a small number of genera of medicinal plants, mainly Rhodiola and Sedum.

The root of the plant is used in current medicinal applications. The outer peel of the root has a light golden color, so that the herb is sometimes referred to as golden root; the inside of the root is pink. There are several species of Rhodiola collected, with the main ones being Rhodiola rosea, Rhodiola kirilowii, and Rhodiola crenulata.

1. CARDIOTONIC - Rhodiola has been reported to be antiarrhythmic in both human and animal subjects. The antiarrhythmic effect of Rhodiola is reported to be associated with the induction of opioid peptide biosynthesis, specifically kappa-OR.

2. ANTI DEPRESSANT - In research using animals for the treatment of depression, extracts of Rhodiola, namely rosavin and salidroside, seem to enhance the transport of serotonin precursors, tryptophan, and 5-hydroxytryptophan into the brain and decrease the action of COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase), an enzyme that degrades serotonin. 6 Russian scientists have used Rhodiola alone or in combination with antidepressants to enhance mental state and decrease the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), common to Northern European countries.

3. MUSCLE AND BLOOD - Rhodiola is routinely used by athletes in the former Soviet Union to improve performance.
Rhodiola seems to improve the ratio of muscle to fat, decreases the time to shift to a fat burning metabolism, and increases haemoglobin and erythrocyte levels in the blood.

4. ANTI-CANCER, HEPATO PROTECTOR - Rhodiola extracts have been reported to be chemoprotective when used with cyclophosphamide.
Rhodiola has also been reported to decrease the toxicity of Adriamycin in mice with metastatic carcinoma.
Use of the herb extract could have promise as a hepatoprotective agent during chemotherapy protocols

5. GLUCOSE LEVEL - In animal experiments, Rhodiola extract increased blood insulin and decreased glucagon levels, resulting in a 50 to 80 percent increase in liver glycogen where excess sugar is stored. This information suggests that Rhodiola extracts may help normalize blood sugar levels and decrease insulin resistance.
Rhodiola is also reported to have antioxidant activity in vitro, most likely due to the cinnamic alcohol content.

6. ALTITUDE SICKNESS - not only from research, but also from our experience, Rhodiola is very effective at reducing the effects. We always use it to prevent mountain sickness when we climb above 4000m.
Much of the research on Rhodiola has been carried out in Lhasa at the Tibetan Institute of High Altitude Biology. They confirmed that it is of benefit as an adaptogen, including use against mountain sickness.

7. MEMORY - The effect of an alcohol-aqueous extract from Rhodiola roots on the processes of learning and memory was studied in rats.
Significant improvement of long-term memory was also established in memory tests after a 10-day treatment with the same dose of the extract (0.1ml of a 1:1w/v).

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS - 
A. Flavonoids (such as quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol), condensed flavonoids (polyphenols, mainly gallic acid and epigallocatechin).
B. Yanoglycosides (which have histamine-inhibiting activity).
C. Salidroside, which is deemed one of the main active constituents of interest by virtually all authorities. In concentrated extracts of rhodiola, salidroside makes up about 1-2% of the content. Salidroside is comprised of tyrosol linked to glucose; tyrosol is one of the major flavors and aroma ingredients of the olive which confers notable antioxidant activity to olive oil.
D. Sterols, notably daucosterol and sitosterol.

Originally Hong Jingtian wasn't used in Chinese medicine, but originated in Tibetan medicine. The old pharmacopoeias of Tibet mention Hong Jingtian many times. It's only in the last 50 years that it began to enter into the Chinese pharmacopoeia, which learning from Tibetan functions, put it into the forms of meridians and energy.

In Tibetan medicine the main use of the Rhodiola is to treat lung disease. However, it's been discovered that different kinds of Rhodiola have other benefits. We often use it for Tuberculosis, chemotherapy side effects, heart disease, improving memory, and gynecology.

It was also known that the Tibetans monks had used this herb for meditation and increasing spiritual concentration (today we know its effect on increasing the oxygen and blood flow to the brain).

Rhodiola kirilowii (SHI ZI QI):
Taste - bitter, astringent, warm? enter the lung, heart, liver and large intestine meridians.
FUNCTIONS- Nourish the heart; calm the mind; increase bloodflow to resolve stagnation; stop bleeding; clear heart to resolve toxicity.
Qi deficiency and weak body; shortness of breath and powerless; palpitation and insomnia; dizziness; fullness and pain of the chest; trauma; irregular menstruation; vaginal discharge; vomiting blood; dysentery; diarrhea.
DOSE- 9-12gr in decoction.

Ingredients- caffeic acid, umbelliferone, tyrosol, gallic acid, gallic acid ethyl ester, kaemoferol, rhodioloside.

TASTE- sweet, astringent, cold,enter the lung meridian.

FUNCTIONS: Tonify qi; clear lungs; boost intelligence; nourish the heart; stop bleeding; disperse stagnation; relieve swollenness. Mainly treat qi deficiency; aversion of cold after disease; fatigue and shortness of breath; cough due heat in the lung; vaginal discharge; diarrhea; trauma; burns; neurosis; high altitude sickness.

TASTE- sweet, little bitter, balance. enter the kidney and liver meridians.

FUNCTIONS- Benefits the kidney; nourish the liver; harmonize the period; move blood. Mainly for empty heat; exhaustion of blood;

DOSE- 6-12gr in decoction

TASTE- sweet, astringent, cold and balance.

FUNCTION- Clear the lung heat; benefits the qi. TB with coughing; phlegm with blood; pneumonia; bronchitis.

DOSE- 9-12gr in decoction.