Chinese Herbal Tea

Walking in the busy streets of Hong Kong, you may see some stores putting out several bowls of soup covered with lids. Or you may see an 8-feet tall steam metal pot.

These stores specialize in the traditional Chinese herbal tea, called “Leung Cha” (directly translated as “Cool Tea”). It is very popular in the southern China due to the hot and humid climate. The ingredients are mostly herbs and sometimes with tortoise shells. They may sound scary to you. To prepare it, it usually takes from 4 hours up to 3 days of simmering. Although it takes a while, the tea is awesome to neutralize the “poison” inside your body.

I read the Hong Kong Chinese newspaper online on a daily basis to keep track of what is going on in my hometown.

There was a recent article about the Hong Kong government is going to list this traditional Chinese herbal tea as non-material cultural heritage. In 2006, the Chinese government had already completed the process.
I always heard the Chinese said that beer has the same function as the Chinese herbal tea. I had never tested if both work the same. But if you drink beer once in a while, pay attention whether your pimples and/or constipation getting better or not after that.

Mums

During this time of the year, you always see a lot of mums in front of people’s houses. There are so many different colors. And they bring out the lives of the fall.

Mums are a kind of chrysanthemum. Chinese call mums the baby chrysanthemum. There were a lot of poems appreciating chrysanthemum since 200B.C. Chinese describe it as a strong gentleman among flowers because it can stand in the cold weather so long and still bring out the colors. The original Chinese chrysanthemum was yellow. It was then developed to different colors and varieties in the 1100s.

Chrysanthemums have been used in Chinese medications for 3,000 years. The most common usage is in tea which helps the body to release the extra heat. Another function of it is for longevity.

Interesting, huh?

Women's Health

One of the prescriptions my accupunture doctor gave me containing fructus amomi, zingiber, cortex cinnamomi, rotundus, radix glycyrrhizae and other herbs. (This is just for your reference. Always consult your doctor before taking any prescriptions.)

Although my aunt living in Rochester and my uncle living in Hong Kong have been practised Chinese medication for so many years, I had never tried it until about 2 years ago.

I diagnosed the carpel tunnel syndrome that my family doctor, whom is an American, referred me to an accupunture doctor for the treatment. Since my family doctor is the only doctor that I can trust after moving over here, I listened to her advice and went.

Forunately, my accupunture doctor talks to me in our mother language. I always feel very comfortable to ask her any medical problem. I used to visit lady's room and have menstrual cramps quite often. So, she prescribed me some Chinese herbal medicine which only last about 1 week to a month. Believe it or not, all these symptoms were gone. That made me having more confidence in the Chinese medication.

I remembered that there was about a month in which I had problems to walk after getting up every morning. I was referred to the peodiatrist. And the appointment had to be scheduled a month ahead of time. Before going there, I happened to talk to my accupunture doctor. The first thing she told me, "It is not your feet's problem. It's your back problem." About another month later, I diagnosed arthritis on my back.

I am not complaining about the health issues. What I want to bring the message to you is that if you think regular medication does not work, give it a try to some alternative medication. China has a lot of hospitals practising both western and Chinese medication. They want to take the advantages of both to help the patients to recover completely and healthily.

Stiff Neck Chinese Remedy

My friend, Sue at work, asked me a question about the Chinese remedy for her daughter with the neck pain. She sent me the link about a do-it-yourself remedy by using the spoon together with a few drops of oil scraping on your back.

When she first saw it, she said that it sounds very extreme. I can totally understand that feeling, especially if you are not the one growing up from that environment. So, I explained to her that this is a very traditional method of pain relief.

Actually, my mom did it on me more than 10 years ago when my back hurt for more than a week. The Chinese calls that kind of pain as "bone fire" which is believed that it is caused by pressure from work or school and lack of sleep. The rememdy is called "sand scraping" (even though no sand is involved). When my mom first did it, it hurt a little bit on the skin, but not something unbearable. The whole process takes about 15-30 minutes. But I can tell you how good you feel the next day. The result was awesome.

Some elderly in my grandparents generation do this remedy on a very regular basis, like once a month.

This is just for interest sharing. And I do NOT encourage you to do this without a professional advice or consulting your doctor. If you are interested to learn more about this Chinese remedy, you can check out this link http://ezinearticles.com/?Stiff-Neck-Remedy---Chinese-Style&id=179543.

Arthritis

Spring is here. It means everything coming alive and energetic. However, changing of weather means suffering, especially those with arthritis.

My husband has suffered from it since his early 20s. He went to all different doctors and tried all the prescriptions for internal and external use. None of them worked. Until one day, my aunt, who practices Chinese medication, gave him this external use prescription.

The most important thing of using this prescription is your persistence. Without it, no one or nothing can cure you.

Ingredients
1tbsp Epson Salt
3tbsp 70% Rubbing Alcohol
9L (about 2.37gallons) Warm Water (Buckets out there usually have the metric and US measurements inside.)

Soak 20 minutes each time twice a day (morning and night time) for 11 weeks. Then, you can start reduce the frequency gradually to once a day, 3 times a week, once a week, once in every 2 weeks, once a month and so forth.

If you have arthritis on your back, you can increase the ingredients by proportion and soak the whole body from the shoulder down once a week. This will take a little bit longer than 11 weeks.

Even though you may not be cured 100%, once you stop soaking (which you are not supposed to do that) after the first 11 weeks, you will not feel the pain for another year or two.

The only “side effect” (that I saw on my husband) is your skin will be smoother and softer.

Warning: The first few times of soaking may experience the pain worse than before which is
normal.
Do NOT use hot water, but warm.
Like any other medication out there, it may not work on everybody.
If you don’t feel comfortable with it or experience other side effects which are not
listed here, you should stop soaking or consult your doctor.