Dear Colleagues,
On this very special occasion of the 4th International Medicinal Mushroom Conference (IMMC4), I am greatly
honoured to convey, on behalf of the Mycological Society of China, our sincere congratulations to you, to all of us attending this meeting. The 5th International Medicinal Mushroom Conference (IMMC5) will be held in Jiangsu, China, in 2009. As the host, the Mycological Society of China is well prepared to organize the conference and will make every endeavour to offer a wonderful platform and high quality services for the meeting.

Medicinal mushrooms have now become more widely used as traditional medicinal ingredients than ever before in China for treatment of various diseases and their related health problems. As the result of a great many scientific studies, especially those on medicinal mushrooms, many of the traditional uses have been confirmed and new applications developed. While these mushrooms have been drawn much attention on various immunological and anti-cancer activities, they also offer other potentially important therapeutic properties including antioxidant, anti-hypertensive, cholesterol-lowering, liver protection, anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-viral and anti-microbial. It is obvious that many pharmaceutical companies in China are viewing the medicinal mushrooms as a rich source of innovative biomedical molecules. Many polysaccharide-bound proteins produced by mushrooms have been classified as anti-tumour chemicals, such as Ganoderma, Polyporus, Hericium, Cordyceps,

Jiangsu Province lies in East China, with an area of 100 thousand square kilometres and a population of 67.7 millions. It borders the Huanghai on the east. Its extensive plains stretching long and unbrokenly to the sea, and the Huai River plain and the plains in mid-lower region reach the Yangtze River. There are so many rivers and lakes in Jiangsu that people often refer to it as a region of rivers and lakes. The Yangtze River flows in the south, the Huai River flows in the north, and the Canal runs through the north and the south. The south-western part is a mountainous area. On the north of the Huai River lie a lot of places of interest, among which are Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Tomb in Nanjing, Xuanwu Lake, Yuntai Mountain in Lianyungang, the West Lake in Yangzhou, the Tai Lake in Wuxi, Suzhou Garden and the three caves in Yixing. The local specialties are Suzhou embroider, Yixing pottery, Yangzhou lacquer ware, Wuxi clay figurine, Nanjing pressed salted duck, Taihu Biluochun tea and Yanghe white spirit. What deserves special attention is the city of Nantong, situated on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean and at Yangtze River, where the 5th International Medicinal Mushroom Conference will be held. Nantong is a quasi-peninsula site on the estuary’s north side. It belongs to a torrid zone and has a temperate monsoon climate all four seasons. Under its jurisdiction are four county-level cities, Rugao, Tongzhou, Haimen and Qidong; two counties of Hai’an and Rudong; two districts of Chongchuan and Gangzha; and the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone. Nantong covers an area of 8,001 square kilometres and has a population of 7.738 million. Because of its healthy environment, Nantong is known as the Home of Longevity and is one of the three places where Chinese people enjoy the longest lifespan. Known for the healthy, scenic, comfortable and harmonious environment, the beautiful spot along the river has won a provincial award for best living environment. Touring the city, you will have a real sense of what is meant by the motto “city on water and people in paintings”, as Nantong is traditionally known. We hope you can come to Nantong in 2009.

Prof. Li Yu
President of Mycological Society of China