University's new TCM herb garden open to public
The Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine's herb garden has moved on public greenland in the Pudong New Area.
The Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine launched its new herb garden on Wednesday to promote TCM culture.
The university established its original small Chinese medicine herb garden in 2006 on its campus in Zhangjiang in the Pudong New Area near the Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said Xu Jianguang, president of the university.
The new garden is on the Lujiabang greenland at the north side of the university campus, covering 7,200 square meters. More than 400 kinds of plants with medicinal value have been planted in 14 areas with different themes including tea, peony and grass.
A statue of Li Shizhen (circa 1518–93), a famous Chinese herbalist during the Ming Dynasty, sits at the entrance to the herb garden.
"By moving the garden to the open space, we hope to make it more accessible to local residents, integrating functions of sightseeing, science education, research and teaching," Xu said.
The garden is now a teaching base for the university and provides support for its researchers. It's also open to the public. By scanning QR codes, visitors can get detailed information on the plants in Chinese.
The garden is also a beautiful place to visit.
The university has also set up a volunteer team of teachers and students to maintain and further develop the garden. They will also serve as guides for visitors.
Visitors can get detailed information on herbs by scanning QR codes.
To promote TCM culture to young people, the Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine has published a series of books for primary school students in cooperation with the Shanghai Educational Publishing House and Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers.
The books focuses on TCM in everyday life and teach students not only TCM concepts but also awareness in taking care of themselves and their families.
Chen Kaixian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the university's academic committee, was chief editor of the books, and presented some of them to three primary schools with Wen Zeyuan, president of the Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers during the new garden's opening ceremony.
Visitors take photos at the aquatic botanic garden in the herb garden on Wednesday.
The museum has launched a program to promote TCM culture by organizing activities including a photography competition and gifts of herbs to inspire public interest in TCM.
At the opening ceremony, the museum also launched multi-media products on livestreaming platforms Douyin and Kuaishou.
A map near the garden's gate
