You're listening to Roundtable with myself, He Yang.
I'm joined by Steve and Yushun in the studio.
Coming up, from Beijing to New York, a centuries-old...
Herbal syrup is sparking curiosity. Traditional Chinese medicine is stepping out of Chinese people's everyday lives and into the global wellness scene.
Could ancient remedies really be the next big thing in modern wellness?
And what draws young people around the world to these age-old practices?
Our podcast listeners can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcasts.
Got something on your mind? Whether it's the world of pop culture, technology, or something that touches your heart, we are here to chat.
Drop us a line at roundtablepodcast at qq.com. or go big and send us a voice memo.
We'd love to hear your voice and share it with the world.
Now let's move on to the next topic discussion today.
In recent months, a 400-year-old Chinese herbal syrup chuanbei pipa gao has become well has been gaining attention around the world Embraced by people curious about traditional Chinese medicine or TCM. as both a wellness practice and a cultural touchstone.
Across the globe, a new generation is exploring the holistic principles of traditional Chinese medicine for stress relief, everyday health, and preventative care.
People here in China, especially the younger folks I suppose, have also embraced a TCM as a continuation of our ancestors wisdom.
Today it's not the bitter brews of the past.
Ancient formulas show up in herbal energy drinks. trendy tea shops, and modern wellness products with data, science, and even AI giving traditional practices a fresh contemporary edge.
Yuxuan, how popular is Pipago abroad? So it is quite popular.
A lot of people are discussing it. and making videos of it on TikTok.
So basically, this is kind of a cough syrup that has... been a childhood memory for Chinese people. and now For anyone who do not know what that is, it is kind of a sticky black... cough syrup it was it has the color and consistency of mud A great way to sell it, isn't it?
Yeah, no, I like that. yeah just tell you the like the texture of of it it's it's a little bit both solid and liquid.
Don't be put off by that. Is it also gas?
The taste is sweet. It's sweet because it contains a lot of honey in it.
A lot of celebrities, I think a songwriter Jodi Chan described it as kind of like honey, but with Chinese medicinal properties. actor Cynthia R. Areval. also stated it tastes delicious.
So... As I said, this kind of like childhood memory for a lot of Chinese people, because it's It's sweet, so it's easy and it's good for children to take it. when are having conditions of coughing so Yeah, and now it is popular in the West.
Yeah, I think I get it, right? Because it's just...
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, it's one of those really well established brands that everybody knows about.
It's been around for a really, really long time.
Yeah, but it's not really for most Chinese people.
It's not a brand. It's mostly this cough syrup and there are many brands of it many brands produce it But it's the syrup.
It's the product itself. Yeah, that is sort of brings you back memory lane a little bit.
Yeah, you said it's popular overseas, and it is.
It's available in more than 20 countries, but you're going to pay for it. though.
It costs about $5 roughly in pharmacies where you can get it. in this part of the world, but it can fetch about three times that price when you buy it overseas.
So $15 for a bottle of cough syrup might seem pretty expensive, but people are loving it.
It's getting a lot of attention. Yeah, they're searching it.
They are mixing it into other... beverages like worldwide google searches for this paper cow or people girl rose by a quarter last year and tutorials on how to mix it with other beverages have accumulated millions of views on TikTok.
It's so weird, right? It sounds like cough syrup, but mixing it into cocktails or other beverages, things like that.
Could we also go through the key ingredients of what makes pipa go?
As a Chinese person, actually, I'm learning something new here too.
Yeah, so there's some stuff I'm familiar with, honey, you mentioned that, licorice root ginger, and that's where my knowledge of the ingredients stops. because I don't know what a fritillary bulb is.
Or a four-leaf ladybell root. Would you like to explain?
Yeah, like a fertility bulb is Chuanbei, and actually one of the...
It is one of the most important ingredients in this medicine, or kind of a syrup, I mean.
So because the name, the Chinese name of it is Chuanbei.
It's very common in Chinese. And also this...
Actually, I don't know. Is it a vegetable or is it a nut?
I'm not sure. It's grinded, usually it's grinded into sort of like ash form and then we mix it into drinks.
It's supposed to be very good for your throat.
It's really soothing for your throat. So that's the key element of Chuan Bei.
And also there's the other element that shows up in the name that is the peepaw, which is Loquat.
And this is called... Pipa in Chinese and actually this is a bright orange color and oval shaped plum. it contains very large brown seeds and it usually very juicy but not very sweet so it's it doesn't stand high up there in the list of favorite fruits because we like things sweet right sure but it's considered as, again, very good for your throat.
Singers overseas, like the top overseas singers. are singing this product's praises.
Zane Malik, if you know the former member of One Direction.
I think he just goes by Zane now. Anyway, he called it Honey from China. and his special elixir, and he said it's ridiculously good for his vocal cords, and he takes it everywhere with him, especially when he is singing. and his endorsement of the product caused a spike in online searches. of this, as he calls it, special elixir.
And another wave of discussion on this product is actually after the release of the movie called Wicked.
A lot of actors slash singers are saying that how good they can be to their vocal cords.
Yeah, Ariana Grande, she co-starred in that, right?
And she's one of the better singers in the world.
She said that she had planned to add it to her vocal box But it's not just her.
It was the other members, I think, of the Wicked cast as well.
Not just singers either, you know, when we talk about TCM.
Do you remember? You probably won't remember this.
This was back in 2004. I think when TCM started to become really popular in the West.
Gwyneth Paltrow, you know Gwyneth Paltrow?
She was in Iron Man and other stuff. Anyway, so she was at a film premiere in New York. and she had a backless dress, she was wearing a backless dress, and her back was covered. in these purplish kind of brown bruises, and people were like, huh?
Now that's cupping, right? Yeah, you look like a piece of pepperoni pizza.
And so people were asking what was that?
And then it brought a lot of attention to it because she was talking about it.
She said that she had been cupping and that's they do it to draw blood to the surface.
It's good for your chi, right? The flow of energy in your body.
So, that's when it all kind of kicked off and then US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, proponent of cupping.
Um, Tom Brady, the legendary football player, um, He credits acupuncture for improving his muscle pliability.
So TCM is... has been around in the West for a long time and Some famous people have always been proponents of it.
Yeah, and using pipago and also the other examples as prime examples of ancient Chinese TCM gaining newfound international popularity, What is it about?
The syrup, these practices that draw people today.
For many in the Chinese community, the Pipa Gao is kind of a nostalgic remedy from childhood and this has also resonated with Chinese communities both at home and abroad.
And that is why there's been this kind of huge discussion and also In recent years, there has been this kind of wave of recognizing and realizing the benefits of having and using TCM and integrating these kind of elements into our modern products like snacks red bread and also beverages Another one that we discussed before, the black plum juice, the sour juice. that you will have in a lot of Chinese restaurants is actually very suitable for the kind of summer heat.
So yeah, this kind of thing is making people not only like tasting them but also taking them as a kind of daily routine.
Yeah. I think this is kind of cool too.
They have TCM Night Markets now. And they do this especially in the summer evenings.
I actually walked past one one evening when I didn't even realize what it was.
It was people outside. It was a staff of a hospital, I assume, because they were dressed in medical clothing.
And they were giving people massages and I guess other things.
They had a tent set up there. And yeah, someone just approached me as my wife and I were walking down the street.
They said, oh, would you guys like a massage?
And I said, no. because I didn't know what was going on at the time, but it was a TCM night market.
And I think that's cool because you're making it really accessible, right?
You know, what are the odds that somebody's going to... book an appointment at a clinic on a Saturday afternoon.
You know, that's maybe not so likely to happen, but when you introduce it... on the street in people's faces as they're walking by, it makes it a lot, it makes it a lot hipper and cooler and more accessible.
I think so too. And in China, wow, in recent years, You've seen this wave of acceptance of TCM from young people as well.
It's in everything it feels from like beverages to Anything, even like the other day when I was trying to, I was looking for a pillow. online and they there's tons there are tons of entries of TCM
So pillows with TCM elements in it, and it's supposed to be good for your sleep or whatever.
But does everybody believe in that? That's a different question.
Anyway, guys, so what drives this fascination with TCM today?
We only have like 30 seconds. So spill it out.
Yeah, so TCM is adapting by offering convenient formats like these kind of pre... prepared herbal drinks delivered to homes and concentrated granules and medicinal snacks making it very easy to integrating into busy lifestyles, as what we perceive TCN was because you used to have that kind of specific pot and Boil them.
Yeah, well, certainly. And it's also important to note that these remedies may not be for all people.
For example, the cough syrup, it might not be good with certain dietary restrictions.
And it's also just really good to read the fine print and consult a medical professional, perhaps.
And that brings us to the end of today's show.
Thank you, Steve and Yu Shun. And I'm He Yang.
We'll see you next time.
