Abstract: The potherb industry culture, which is regarded as “anthropology of food”, has caused close attention of oversea researchers for a long time, but the domestic research in this field still remains in a blank state. China is a country with rich wild plants resources and a long history of wild plants collecting and eating. In China’s present dual structure of city and countryside, the potherb industry as a newly developing green food project has been regarded as a benevolent project which brings benefits to citizens and profits to villagers, and creates mutual benefits to both city and countryside. Through the investigation of potherb industry culture on Wudang Mountain in Hubei province, we find that local villagers have formed a certain scale in respects of developing the potherb industry and inheriting the related knowledge and culture, which is a positive impact on the interactive relation between city and countryside. The fact proves that the development of the potherb industry and culture is conducive not only to widen the channel for farmers to become rich, but also to enrich the food structure in China, and to establish the mutually beneficial relation between city and countryside.

Key words: potherb, Wudang Mountain, the mutually beneficial relation between city and countryside, anthropological investigation