Hong Kong (March 29 & 30) - Chinese Medicine

Chinese traditional medicines are very different than western medicines in appearance, but it would be wrong to assume that appearance and the manner in which they are dispensed reflect negatively on their importance and curative abilities.


This is a statue of Shennong, the father of Chinese Medicine.

Hong Kong is a clearinghouse for Chinese medicine ingredients from all over the world. One example is ginseng.


The plants shown are (right to left) five and six years old and come from China. Next to them was dried ginseng from other places including British Columbia and Wisconsin.

We walked through a section of Hong Kong where there we many wholesale and retail businesses.












The number of businesses, the volume of business being conducted and the prices of items on display drove home the fact that the Chinese pharmaceutical industry is huge, albeit very different and much less dominated by a few gigantic firms than in the western world.

Walking down a street we came across what appeared to be a flower shop surrounded by nothing but purveyors of Chinese medicines. Curious.


Our guide explained that the massive arrangements were expressions of good will and hope for success for a newly opened medicine shop. My faith in the Chinese sense of order was restored.

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