When it comes to the most precious woods in the world, it is impossible not to mention Kim To Nam Moc. This type of wood is extremely rare, mainly appearing only in China and is famous as royal wood – wood reserved for royalty, nobles or wealthy officials in ancient times. Ho Than – “the most corrupt official” in Chinese history, owning assets equal to the Qing Dynasty treasury for 15 years combined – used 68 Kim To Nam Moc trees to build his palace.
This type of wood is likened to “golden silk” wood because the wood fibers are interwoven with shiny, eye-catching golden silk threads. Not to mention the wood is extremely durable, waterproof, termite-resistant, and also gives off an extremely pleasant, faint fragrance. Therefore, during the Ming Chengzu period, Kim To Nam Moc wood was overexploited, leading to scarcity, and its value has also increased, becoming one of the most expensive woods in the world.
Kim To Nam Moc is expensive, but the deep-sounding Kim To Nam Moc is many times more valuable. This type of wood is naturally mutated, swept away by floods and earthquakes and then lies deep underground, going through thousands of years in conditions of lack of oxygen and pressure, causing the phenomenon of “wood carbonization”. In 2021, the wood enthusiast community was stirred up when in Guizhou, China, someone advertised a Kim To Nam Moc tree for sale for 2.5 billion NDT (equivalent to 9,000 billion VND).
Although it is so valuable, Kim To Nam Moc is not widely planted. The reason is because this tree requires extremely strict living conditions, such as: maintaining a moderate temperature, the surrounding environment cannot be too hot or cold. Not to mention, a Kim To Nam Moc tree needs to be grown for 50 years to be put into production, and if you want the tree to produce golden silk, you need to grow it for another 50 years. Growing Kim To Nam Moc for a lifetime without being able to harvest it, so it is understandable that many people give up the idea of growing it. In addition, Kim To Nam Moc is on the list of national protection in China, so even if planted, it is not possible to arbitrarily harvest and make money from it.