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is expensive and because of its "burnt" smell.
Sandalwood is obtained from Santalum album, the best of which is found in Sydney, Australia. This species is often referred to as Hsin-shan sandalwood (新山檀香木, US). The core part of the tree trunk, being older, has the stronger scent and thus is most valued and gains the name of Ta hsin-shan (大新山, II). The next rank is called T'ou-tsai (頭材, Bff) and is obtained from the shoot of the tree trunk. The branches and the bark of the tree, being either too young or too rough, are less valued and are termed as Chih-tsai (枝材, literally meaning "little branches") and Shêng-p'i (生皮, literally meaning "tree bark", ) respectively. An inferior species is called Ju-lai-fên (如來粉, 403) which is a little pungent in smell. Some of the sandalwood, however, comes from Indonesia and is called Di-men (低門, HP) which is not as odoriferous as that from Australia. Sandalwood is also imported from Papua New Guinea and the islands of the South Pacific. It is this type of scent which is most favoured by the public and is used in the production of both joss sticks and incense coils. In 1987, more than 50 factories reported the use of various grades of sandalwood.
Benzoin, in contrast, is obtained from Styrax benzoin from Sumatra, S. hypoglaucus, S. macrothuyrrus from China and S. tonkinensis from Siam. This fragrance has a very strong smell and was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s, 60% of the incense wood ground in a single incense wood mill in Shek Kong was benzoin wood (around 200-300 tan per month). Today, less than 30 tan of benzoin wood is ground in a year. Lign-aloe-scented joss sticks, however, are produced with a mixture of wide varieties of Chinese medicinal herbs; examples include Illicium verum, Foeniculum vulgare, Rheum spp., Cinnamomum cassia, Syzygium aromaticum, Nardostachys chinensis, Zanthoxylum simulans, Lysimachia foenumgraecum, Angelica anomala, Kaempferia galanga, Angelica sinensis, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Xanthoxylum and Eleutherococcus gracilistylus. Ch'ien-nan (沉南, £), the common name for this kind of joss stick, was particularly used in Malaysia and Thailand in early days to fumigate the tin mines.
The last common type of incense powder used is from ordinary sawdust. Though increasingly fewer incense stick factories produce joss sticks with sawdust, at least 20 factories in 1987 had small sections devoted to the production of this kind of low-grade commodity. The end product so manufactured is called Ts'u-hsiang (**粗香**, “crude joss sticks”, H)