Qi’ai moxa sticks are made from the precious Chinese herb Qi’ai, a kind of mugwort. It is famous for its origin in Qizhou (the ancient name of Qichun County). Therefore, Qi’ai moxa sticks are a local特产 of Qichun County, the hometown of Li Shizhen. Now, many people like moxibustion, but the more famous ones are still Qi’ai and Nanyang moxa. Many people do not know the difference between Qi’ai moxa sticks and general moxibustion patches, and whether the quality of Qi’ai moxa sticks is necessarily good. Today, I will share some work experience and professional knowledge about these aspects.

Difference between Qi’ai moxa sticks and general moxibustion patches:

Many people have heard that Qi’ai is good, but to tell the truth, I feel that Qi’ai is similar to other moxas, because the raw material is all moxa leaves, and the efficacy is similar. However, ancient Qi’ai was indeed very good, with large and firm leaves and good efficacy. But with the increase in demand, now Qi’ai is basically hand-cultivated. I don’t know if anyone has come to Qichun, there are hundreds to thousands of acres of Qi’ai moxa hand-cultivated, and hand-cultivated Qi’ai is not as good as natural Qi’ai, I think, don’t get angry if you don’t like it!

So, can you still buy natural Qi’ai moxa now?

I am not good at answering this question, because nowadays natural moxa leaves are becoming more and more scarce. Many factories collect moxa leaves, which are both natural and hand-cultivated. Moreover, with the increasing number of people using moxibustion, and the natural moxa roots being dug up and planted, natural moxa leaves are becoming scarcer, which causes the price of moxa leaves to increase every year.

Therefore, we don’t need to keep asking the shopkeeper if the moxa leaves are natural, the shopkeeper will definitely tell you that they are, but whether they are natural or not, no one can give an actual answer. The collection of moxa leaves is all in bulk, and there are undoubtedly both natural and hand-cultivated ones.

Having said so much and written a bit off track, hehe! Let’s talk about the difference between Qi’ai moxa sticks and general moxibustion patches again. I feel that there is not much difference between Qi’ai and general moxa, because all the moxa leaves are cultivated by hand, and many factories in Qichun collect moxa leaves from all over the country, which is rarely mentioned. Moreover, there are more counterfeit products of Qi’ai, with lower proportion of moxa yarn, but the price is really expensive.

In fact, it is up to you to compare which moxibustion patch has a higher cost-performance ratio, and the more famous ones are still Qi’ai and Nanyang moxa. There are many counterfeit products of Qi’ai, and Nanyang moxa has better moxa yarn production and higher cost-performance, but there are many exaggerated prices!

Therefore, when choosing moxibustion patches, I feel that it is still best to choose a good one that suits you. After all, both Qi’ai and Nanyang’s moxa materials are made from moxa leaves, who can say who is better or not so good? What suits oneself is the best, just like me, now I have been using Nanyang’s moxa, which has high cost performance and good moxa yarn production! But there are also some Qi’ai moxa around me, and the rest has not been mentioned much.