April 30 - At the Herb Market

Outside of the larger Chinese cities “Western Foreigners” aka “Big Noses” ... are something of an oddity.  I certainly discovered this when I visited the Ja Jin herb market outside of Anguo.

Clearly, I fit the profile. As red headed foreigner with an ample snout, I received a lot of stares and looks.  Getting through the noisy, busy market was a bit of a challenge. I just smiled, waved and kept on moving down the rows, and all told everything went very well.    

Ja Jin herb market is a busy (and aromatic) place with 400 vendors from all regions of China. There is a lot of chatting, visiting and a fair amount of high volume haggling going on (along with card games and smoking)  In addition to plant materials stalls feature exotic substances, minerals and animal products.   

April 30 - Dog Talk - Not just for breakfast anymore!

Dog is the universal language!  Dogs may well be the good will ambassadors to the world.

I was walking down the street and passed a woman out walking her three dogs. There are an abundance of small spaniels, pekinese and pomeranian type compact pooches here.  Considering the small living quarters and tiny court yards in the hutongs (older Chinese neighborhoods) it makes perfect sense and evening dog walking is a common site. 

I stopped to take a photo and pet the dogs and I managed to blurt out “wo you er gou” pointing at myself, holding up two fingers and then pointing to the dogs. Which is something like “I have two dogs” This broke the ice and the woman and I started an animated “conversation” consisting of pantomime and gestures describing our dogs in detail.

April 29 - Suit Up! - Inside May Way.

During our Herbal tour we had a rare opportunity to go inside the May Way Anguo processing facility. We all had to suit up in GMP (good manufacturing practices) clothing. May Way manufactures herbs and herbal extract powders for Chinese hospitals and for export so cleanliness is vital. Depending on the part of the plant workers and visitors are required to don the appropriate protective clothing to prevent contamination. 

 Here we are preparing to tour the extraction and spray drying facility.  Here we are in our protective gear resembling teletubbies in masks. Along with me are a couple of great gals.  Misha Cohen from Oakland, CA. she is a practitioner, author and known for her innovate work with Hepatitis C and HIV herbal protocols http://www.docmisha.com/  and Pamela Gregg –Flax the herb buyer for the Southwest Acupuncture school.

April 28 - Cool Hotel Stuff - Self Saving Breather!

The best complimentary  hotel room  item ever has got to be the SKL  fire fighting filter type self-saving breather in a pop top can!

Instructions read:

1 Take out the fire fighting filter type self-saving breather

2 Tear at the packaging bag of the fire fighting filter type self-saving breather

3 Wear helmet and pull belt fast

4 Choose way and flee for your life decidedly

April 28 - Medicine God Temple

Anguo is a mecca for herbalists, and the herbal trading center of northern China.  No trip to Anguo would be complete without a visit to the Medicine God temple.

April 28^th is the day to celebrate and make incense offerings to Pi Tong. Herbal farmers, processers and just about everybody involved in the herbal trade visit the temple during this week and have been doing so for generations. Some amazing doctors have walked through these same doors. Pi Tong’s remains are buried here in the center court yard. It is the oldest medicine god temple in China and the original structure dates back to the Han Dynasty.

Legend states that Pi Tong, a shoe maker/herbal doctor and former military man saved the life of a sick princess with a special herbal formula.  Because of his assistance he was bestowed the title “General of Medicine”.

This is still an active place of worship and the caretaker requested that no photos be taken inside the shrine. I was however allowed to shoot outside the temple and got a shot of the incense burner in the center court yard.

April 27 - Chinese Family Coop Herb Farm

We visited an herbal farm run by a clan/family cooperative while learning about China’s GAPs (good agricultural practices). They specialize in medicinal herbs. The planting season is just beginning in Anguo – it is a northern climate and still quite cool here. 

This is a farmer harvesting Tian hua fen (Radix Trichosanthis) It is a handy root with anti-tumor and antibacterial properties. It dissolves phlegm - making it useful for cough with thick phlegm and is being used in the treatment of HIV.

April 25 - Herbs and Food

Herbs and food – Postcard from China

“Let your food be you medicine and let your medicine be your food” is an old adage. Certainly this is a concept widely practiced in China.

In China herbs are not only used for medicinal purposes but they are consumed as food as well.  Chinese herbs are found in everyday dishes just as we would include potatoes, onions and bay leaves in our stews. Tonic herbs like Shan yao (mountain potato) Dao zao (Red dates) and Dang gui (Angelica) are part of Chinese daily fare. It makes dining both therapeutic and tasty!!

According to Chinese dietary concepts, all foods like herbs have certain properties, therapeutic actions and can be consumed for particular health issues.  During my trek to Anguo our group feasted on special herbal dishes prepared by a well-known chief in Anguo. (All in the spirit of education and research – of course)

Our lunches were absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. A few examples included:

Spicy Gingko Nut chicken - good for lung problems like wheezing and coughing

Gou qi zi leaf salad – good for vision problems

Lamb, dang gui and daikon radish stew - builds blood

Fish with Ham, Mushroom and Tain Ma – good for painful joints

April 22 - May Way, Heibei factory

In addition to the serious educational aspects of the trip, We had the opportunity to visit the Medicine God Temple, and to sample the local foods (prepared with regional herbs and produce – Yummmmy) and to tour the Anguo herbal medicine museum. Wonderful!

April 22 - Anguo City Gate

Anguo is known as the “1000 Year Herb Capital” and is one of three major herbal trading centers in China. You enter town through a massive gate.  We were here as the guests of May Way Corporation to tour their herb processing facilities, visit herb farms and attend workshops on cultivation, processing and extraction.

April 22 - Bus ride to Anguo

Just spent an amazing three days with a group of Chinese medicine professionals, in the town of Anguo in Hebei (pronounced Hey Bee) province.

Our group included biochemists, a botanist from Kew Gardens in Britain, researchers, educators, authors, innovative clinicians and  an agronomist (PRC) from the field of Chinese medicine. I found myself on a bus packed with amazing minds!  

I’m very blessed to have been included on the guest list.  We had some incredible conversations – my mind is still soaking it all in and I’m sure I’ll be processing for days to come.

April 21 - A note to my readership RE blogging from China

Why all these posts in one day?

It seems that big brother is preventing me from updating my blog and from using facebook.  However, my emails (so far) are getting through.

I wrote Jon for help.  Not being an avid blogger, he grumbled at first, but seems to have gotten control of himself and is now posting like an old hand.  Thanks Jon ;)

I’m in a town called Baling north of Beijing at the worlds largest all solar hotel. Just finished up dinner and am on the way to bed.  The second half of the herb tour starts in the AM.

April 21 - Significant Firsts!

I have had a few significant firsts over the last few days…. I have been riding the subway, which is a breeze (except for when I made a wrong exit and ended up at the Beijing military museum amongst a group of soldiers)

I used the public squat toilet – no privacy, TP, soap or water...and I took the bus to Tiananmen square.  (the Chairman says hi!)

I have eaten a lot of new foods including snail noodle soup, deer tendons cooked in herbs and date sauce. I could not however, eat the chicken head that ended up in my soup bowl (beak and all) during the May Way banquet.

April 18 - Getting the hang of local transportation

My trusty bike and the Beijing bell tower. The sign reads “the most heaviest and biggest ancient bell in China” ...and it is a huge bronze bell -  I’m riding my bike like a Beijing citizen – a little scary at first but I’m getting it down – just ignore the honking and peddle.

April 17 - The REAL Chinese Food

Nothing says yummy lunch like donkey meat!

April 16 - exploring Beijing

My adventure for the day: Find the Lama temple and return to the hotel. … Mission accomplished!  I walked and took a bunch of shots.  The hazy sky is a real problem.  Difficult contrast on the photos… Any thoughts??

This is one of the interior shots before a monk admonished me for shooting inside the temple.  There is a three story tall Buddha carved of sandal wood covered in gold here.  Very cool!!

April 15 - I Made it!

Well…..I’m sitting in the lounge of the hutong Inn sipping a complimentary beer and eating figs from Sam’s deli (Fresno). It is 10:30 pm and it has been a long day!!! Lucky for me many signs are in both English and Chinese. 

My Taxi driver didn’t speak English and had trouble finding the hotel.  After a couple of calls he suddenly stopped in front of a narrow and dark alley and said “you go” and pointed.

I wasn’t sure if he knew where he was or if he was just dumping me some place. So I just started walking!

After passing some alleys and tiny store fronts I found a coffee bar with a bunch of college kids and I showed them my printout and they pointed me up another alley. Then I was there….. it is a funky hotel/hostel with an international crowd of all ages hanging out.   

April 16 - This is what my place looks like in the day light. Notice the wacky bike sculpture items in the front.

April 13 - Day 1 - The First Step

Jon dropped me off at the Fresno Amtrak station on Wednesday 4/13.  From there I caught the BART in Richmond ( after overshooting my stop - they don't leave the doors open very long ) to the San Francisco Airport. After weeks of preparation I cannot believe my journey has begun!

On the road to China

On the Road to China - The office will be closed 4/14/2001 to 5/10/11

Whole Horse Herbs has seen invited on a tour of herbal farms and production facilities in China. I'll be studying updated farming methods, sustainability, wild crafting, and observing how new methods are and blending with traditional herbal production. I'm sure there will be a wealth of information to share in future posts.

Please order any products you may need prior to April 1^st. Any orders received after April 1^st will be shipped after May 10^th.

Be well!

Gloria