It's winter in Beijing and Liu Zhan is making a ton of money at the Chinese capital's biggest vegetable wholesale market.
Garlic prices have gone through the roof in China, it has even outperformed gold and stocks to be the country's best performing asset this year.
As H1N1 swine flu continues to worry China's leaders and they have a nationwide vaccine program, but the people seek a more traditional remedy.
As a result, garlic has become the swine flu fighter.
"Garlic kills bacteria, and I eat at least half a bulb each day," says Liu, 43, whose prices have gone from just five cents a pound in February to almost 55 cents now.
Even though the Chinese government have cautioned the people about the lack of scientific proof for garlic's flu-killing powers, the support is strong.
"Garlic can definitely help prevent swine flu," claims Li Jingfeng, chairman of the Jinxiang Garlic Association in eastern China's Shandong province.
