TCM hospital's gaofang is just the tonic
Officials unveil the gaofang center at Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine on Sunday.
Staff at Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine began to make gaofang, a seasonal herbal paste tonic, on Sunday.
Sunday is lidong, which means the start of winter according to the Chinese calendar.
Under traditional Chinese medicine concepts, taking gaofang can enhance health, especially for those with weak immunity and chronic diseases. It also helps the elderly.
While other hospitals hire pharmaceutical companies to produce gaofang, Yueyang is the only one to sustain traditional means by having a special plant with 100 bronze vessels to make the tonic.
This year, it moved its vessels into a new two-story gaofang center, which consists of a gaogang plant and a gaofang museum to promote TCM culture.
Gaofang is a herbal paste made of condensed liquid herbal medicines chock full of ingredients like honey and brown sugar. Each paste is tailor-made according to a doctor's prescription.
Yueyang has more than 40 years of gaofang prescription and production. Some 10,000 people have reserved its gaofang clinic this year, said Zhou Jia, president of Yueyang hospital.
Staff start to prepare gaofang at Yueyang hospital.
