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Chinese Medicine: Donkey skin, red dates and sesame!

Some parts have been translated.

Round the corner, the local ‘yaodian’ is far more than any old pharmacy. It provides traditional Chinese medicine as well as modern drugs, consultations and various other treatments. If you ever sick and ‘need a pick me up’ you won’t find a more colourful and vibrant place to go.

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My batteries have been seriously low lately with some nasty energy sapping virus and it’s not surprising with all the bugs being passed around at the moment. I’m seen by Dr Bo who comes from the Hubei Province. Amazingly he’s seventy three years old and still going strong. He has an easy going and approachable manner about him.

IMG_0869After taking my pulse and showing him my tongue (poor man) he makes his diagnosis. “Your body is not in a good balance. Your liver and kidneys aren’t working very well together. There is a fire inside of your body which we need to put out.” This is why I love China. I can’t imagine my local GP in England ever saying anything like that.

At that Dr Bo goes off at a tangent. “You know in Chairman Mao’s time every doctor would think about the patient’s needs. These days some young doctors only try to sell the most expensive medicine. I would never do the same as them.
Now engaging me with conviction he continues. “Do you know Dr Sun Simiao? He was famous almost two thousand years ago and was called the King of Medicine. His book ‘Yao Fang’ is the holy bible of all health. Here we use the same medicine. You will need to take it three times a day for one month.”

Dr Bo then spends five minutes writing a list of twenty five ingredients (“plants and minerals”) to take to the apothecary at the rear of the building. Here your prescription will take shape; a huge pile of natural materials that get formulated into a notorious brown drink served in 250ml sachets. I’ve had it before; a super-bitter concoction of foulness that smells like some old drawers at the bottom of a wardrobe in a rented semi-furnished flat you’re just about to move into. Yes yes, an obscure description I know but unfortunately it is what springs to mind. The best way to take it is by heating it up in a bowl of hot water and downing it in one go. Even so, you’ll still be recoiling for a couple of minutes after.

The shop itself is a wonderful place. All the staff are qualified, wearing white doctors or nurses uniforms. There are beautiful displays of medicine including super expensive ginseng and live sea cucumber which is supposed to be good for the kidneys. There is also ‘dong chong xia ciao’, a plant used for bladder infections. Even a tiny piece is worth a couple of thousand RMB. Near the door is something called ‘e-jiao’. This is donkey skin, red dates and sesame. Its pressed wafer thin and then you’re supposed to crush it into powder and put it in a drink. Apparently it’s good for the blood especially after giving birth.

The yaodian is such a colourful place
There are thousands of ingredients in Chinese medicine
My medicine taking shape
Cucumber and Dong Chong Xia Ciao
E-Jiao Counter
Ginseng
Ginseng
Shan Shen >> Mountain Ginseng
One three times a day. Heating it up in boiling water first makes it more bearable
The yaodian is open 24hrs

 

Categories: Beijing, China, Chinese Culture

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17 replies ›

  2. Hi there Diana >> Yes after a month of that stuff three times a day I may brave a Chinese hospital next time instead grrrr >> What makes it so damned bitter do you think? Thanks for dropping by

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  4. My dad made me to down a bowl of nature medicine when I was sick as a child, and that time I drank it as fast as I can and felt that I had some liquid poisoning my palate. They were bitter as hell, but unlike western medicine, Chinese natural medicine does not have any side effects. Hope you will get over your sickness soon!

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    • Hiya Julie > Nice to hear from you. Ha ha I think we may have been drinking the same thing. Still, I really prefer it to going to the hospital for medicine. Oh, and I’m much better today thanks Julie 🙂

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  6. I do wish I had Dr. Bo living near me! Andy, you are so blessed to be where someone truly cares about your health and takes the time to treat you with the correct medicine. Here the corporations have taken over health care. Doctors are expected to see 25 patients in an 8 hour day—like on an assembly line. Plenty of fatigue on the doctor’s part –then they have about 4 hours of documentation to follow their long office hours. Many doctors are leaving the profession. Unfortunately. I may move to China yet…if I did not have grandchildren tugging at my heart, I would be on the plane!

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    • Hiya Jane > Thanks for your feedback. Yes, well we have the normal ‘hospital’ hospitals and then the Chinese medicine pharmacies which have practitioners, massage and other Chinese techniques and of course medicine. Some places work and others dont. I’ll choose this place any time 🙂 China’s easy. You should come over for a couple of weeks > warning > China is addictive!

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