Traditional Chinese Medicinal Tea in Central Hong Kong

Andy Hill

In many places throughout Hong Kong, there are small medicinal tea shops with massive bronze containers of tea and lines of cups for consumption by those wishing to somehow gird themselves against the rampant pollution and harshness of the city.

Being one who cherishes tea in general and feeling very much in need of some kind of healthy boost, I was strolling through Central the other day and decided to try one of the elixirs.

Two were on offer; one called “American Ginseng” and another called “24 herbs tea.” I went for the latter, which not only sounded more interesting but looked less like urine than the former.

The smell and taste immediately brought me back to a Thai monastery at which I stayed earlier this year, where several times a day we drank a powerful detoxifying tea of esoteric origin. Although not as bitter and strong as its Thai sibling, this earth-colored brew was very similar, tasting of wood and dirt with some bitterness mixed in.

I don’t mean any of those in a negative way- I would prefer them to any artificial flavoring on offer across the road at 7-11 any day. Some of the best liquors in the world have the same profile.

The tea had a clean, dry aftertaste that lingered not longer than its welcome. The small, florally-decorated Styrofoam cup it came in was the perfect size. You wouldn’t want to drink too much of this tea for fear of burning out on it, but it was definitely something I have begun drinking every day that I have been here.

I asked what the tea was good for, making a bizarre pointing motion at the organs of my torso, a gesture which could have been interpreted any number of ways. The guy fished out my change and pointed to another guy measuring out various powders into sacks behind the counter. He smiled and said, “Good doctor.”  

As I put the tea in my bag and thanked him, I considered that there would probably be no more important figure in China’s future than he, if the environmentally rapine course of the country’s development is continued for even another day.