Feature: Young Chinese infuse millennia-old herbal wisdom into daily life

LANZHOU, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- At a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) expo in northwest China's Gansu Province, Zhao Ruiqi sought health advice twice: from a veteran TCM doctor who took her pulse, and from an artificial intelligence (AI) device that did the same.

"The AI gave the same result as the TCM doctor. It is time for me to take better care of myself," said Zhao, 24, who often stays up late and feels tired sometimes.

Young Chinese consumers, such as Zhao, are embracing TCM wellness ideas, with their mindset moving from "treating illness" to "preventing diseases."

From ginseng coffee to AI-powered pulse diagnosis, millennia-old herbal remedies are stepping out of pharmacy cabinets and into daily life as products customized for young consumers are emerging.

Guided by popular health content on social media, young Chinese are more attuned to subtle body signals and abnormal indicators in health checkup reports. Unlike their parents, many of them learn about sleep routines, body metrics and dietary calories early, and act to keep fit.

At the expo, young consumers, accompanying their parents, flocked to areas for TCM diagnosis and treatment, medicinal cuisine tasting and AI application experiences.

The shift is encouraging TCM enterprises. "Many enterprises are developing new products suited to the consumption habits of young people, who pursue 'zero sugar, zero calories, zero fat' but have no time to prepare traditional herbal medicines," said Liu Yuan from a health product company.

Some TCM enterprises launched instant coffee with astragalus, a medicine to strengthen the body's immune system, for office workers, with its packaging bearing the slogan "coffee with astragalus, confidence at work." For weight-loss seekers, companies developed herbal substitute tea combining poria, lotus leaf and dried ginger.

"The biggest feature of such products is portability. It turns taking herbal medicine into an everyday habit," said Lu Yiyan, a TCM salesperson.

The products are novel, but their origins and formulas are not.

"A cup of tea in a young person's hand still carries the ancient wisdom of 'medicine and food share the same origin,'" said Liu Borong, director of the Gansu Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He noted that the idea of "embedding medicine in food" can be traced to the "Shennong Bencao Jing," or the Divine Farmer's Materia Medica, the earliest known Chinese pharmacological text.

As one of the cradles of TCM culture, Gansu's profound cultural heritage underpins these innovations. Qibo, a legendary medical ancestor, was born in Gansu's Qingyang, where he and Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) discussed medicine and health, contributing to the foundational classic Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon).

Featuring 3,626 types of Chinese medicinal herbs, Gansu's cultivation area and output of such herbs have ranked among the top in China for years. Codonopsis pilosula, Chinese angelica and astragalus among others are processed by various TCM enterprises into slices, instant granules and oral drinks, which are sold across the country.

In east China's Zhejiang Province, young people are drawn to cultural and creative products such as herbal sachets and herbal milk beverages. Local time-honored TCM brands also turn traditional herbal pastes into jelly and strip drinks.

In Lanzhou and many other cities, street-food aromas are mixed with herbal fragrances in some well-known night markets. Stalls are set up for herbal tea drinks, free TCM consultations and health education, providing traditional therapies such as pulse diagnosis, acupuncture, cupping, foot baths, tuina (massage), and ear acupressure.

Yu Guoyong, director of the External Cooperation Office of Beijing Dongzhimen Hospital, said: "TCM concepts rooted in Chinese philosophy such as 'yin-yang balance', 'prevention of diseases' and 'holistic diagnosis' can actually be reframed into narratives of preventive medicine, chronic disease management and mind-body regulation that are easier for young people and international audiences to grasp."

"The younger generation's enthusiasm for TCM stems from cultural identity passed down through generations, and also embodies their aspirations for a healthy life," Liu Borong said.