Traditional Chinese Medicine Primer

In recent years Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has caused a lot of holistic hype in the West. Around here, though, it's been going strong for a while—more than 2,000 years, to be precise. Although modern Hong Kongers may see western doctors for serious illnesses, for minor complaints and everyday pick-me-ups they still turn to traditional remedies.

To get to the root of your body's disequilibrium, a TCM practitioner takes your pulse in different places, examines your tongue, eyes, and ears, and talks to you. Your prescription could include herbal tonics, teas, massage, dietary recommendations, and acupuncture.

Learning to Balance

Taoists believe that the world is made up of two opposing but interdependent forces: negative yin, representing darkness and the female, and positive yang, standing for light and masculinity. Both are essential for good health: when one becomes stronger than the other in the body, we get sick.

Another concept is qi, the energy or life force behind most bodily functions. It flows through channels or meridians: if these are blocked, ill health can ensue. Acupuncture along these meridians is a way of putting your qi in order.

It's not all inner peace—to be healthy you need to be in harmony with your environment, too. The Five Elements theory divides up both the universe and the body into different "elemental" categories: water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. Practitioners seek to keep all five elements in balance.

If you don't know your qi from your chin, and you're not sure if you need a dried seahorse or a live snake, head to the Eu Yan Sang Medical Hall. Glass cases at this reputable store display reindeer antlers, dried fungi, ginseng, and other medicinal mainstays. Grave but helpful clerks behind hefty wooden counters will happily sell you purported cures for anything from the common cold to impotence (the cure for the latter is usually slices of reindeer antler boiled into tea). The Hong Kong Tourism Board organizes free introductory classes on Chinese medicine here every Wednesday at 2:30 pm. From Sheung Wan MTR, walk left along Wing Lok Street, right into Wing Wo Street, then left onto Queen's Road Central. There are other smaller branches all over Hong Kong; try the one on 18 Russell Street in Causeway Bay for over-the-counter consultations in English. 152 Queen's Rd. Central, Central, Hong Kong. 3521-1233; 3521-1236 hotline. www.euyansang.com. Mon.-Sat. 10-2, 3-7. Sheung Wan, Exit E2.

Chinese medicines aren't regulated by the Hong Kong government. Anything that sounds dubious or dangerous might be just that.

Brush up on traditional treatments at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences. The least morbid and most enlightening exhibits compare Chinese and western medical practices, and show Chinese medicines of both animal and plant origin. Elsewhere, dusty displays of old medical equipment send macabre thrills up your spine. Reaching this museum is a healthy experience in itself: you pant up several blocks' worth of stairs to the Edwardian building in which it's located. The cheat's way of getting here is on the Midlevels Escalator: alight at Caine Road and walk west a few blocks to Ladder Street. The museum is just down the first flight of stairs, on the left. 2 Caine Lane, Midlevels, Central, Hong Kong. 2549-5123. www.hkmms.org.hk. HK$10. Tues.-Sat. 10-5, Sun. 1-5. Sheung Wan.

Taking the Cure

Therapeutic massages are the specialty at Charlie's Acupressure and Massage Centre of the Blind. Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was one celebrity who relaxed his overworked muscles here. An hour-long massage costs around HK$250. Room 205, 2nd fl., Tung Ming Building, 40-42, Des Voeux Rd. Central, Central, Hong Kong. 2810-6666. Central.

The Hong Kong University Chinese Medicine Clinic and Pharmacy is a training clinic run by the most respected med school in town. It also has master practitioners of acupuncture and orthopedics on hand. Consultations start at HK$100, visits to the masters at HK$300 (not including medication). Admiralty Centre, 2nd fl., Unit 50-53, Harcourt Rd., Admiralty, Hong Kong. 3761-1188. Tues.-Sat. 10-2, 3-8, Sun. 9:30-1:30. Admiralty, Exit A.

Acupuncture, acupressure, and herbal medicine are just some of the offerings at the Quality Chinese Medical Centre. Consultations start at HK$70; expect to pay around HK$250 for acupuncture. Jade Centre, 5th fl., Unit A, 98 Wellington St., Central, Hong Kong. 2881-8267 English hotline. www.qualitytcm.com. Central.

Established in 1669, Tong Ren Tang has long been one of mainland China's most respected traditional medicine companies. Watsons, Haiphong Mansion, 2nd fl., 101 Nathan Rd., Central, Hong Kong. 3153-5059. www.tongrentang.com..

At the root of Chinese acupressure and acupuncture is reflexology, which is based on the theory that there are reflex points on the feet, hands, and head linked to every part of the body. Thus, a good foot, hand, or head massage is believed to effectively relieve tension or even treat illness. Foot massage need not be torture in the gentle hands of Reflexology at Happy Foot, where the goal is to make your whole body feel relaxed, from the feet up. Massages cost HK$198 for 50 minutes. Jade Centre, 11th fl., 98-102 Wellington St., Central, Hong Kong. 2544-1010. Daily 10-midnight. Central.

Healthy Ways

In colonial times Bonham Strand, a curving thoroughfare in Sheung Wan, was a major commercial hub. Sadly, its wooden shop fronts are fast falling victim to real-estate development. The few that remain are medicinal mother lodes: wood-clad walls are lined with shelves of jars filled with pungent ingredients such as fungi, barks, and insects. These are consumed dried and ground up—infused in hot water or tea or taken as powder or pills. West of the intersection with Wing Lok Street, the original facades give way to those with big plate-glass windows displaying bundles of hairy-looking forked yellow roots—this is the heart of the ginseng wholesale trade. Ginseng is a broad-spectrum remedy that's a mainstay of Chinese medicine.

A sharp, musty smell fills the air when you turn down Wing Lok Street or Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan streets renowned for their dried-seafood stores. Out of shop fronts spill sacks filled to bursting with dried and salted fish, seahorses, shrimp, and abalone—a shellfish that is to China what oysters are to the West. Foot-wide fungi, gleaming beans, wrinkly red prunes, nuts, and even rosebuds make up the rest of the stock. A grimmer offering lurks behind a few shop windows: highly prized shark's fins, purported to be an aphrodisiac.

At Possession Street, where Queen's Road Central becomes Queen's Road West, shop windows display what looks like clumps of fine vermicelli noodles, ranging in color from pale gold to rich chestnut. These are birds' nests, which are used to make a much cherished (and correspondingly expensive) soup that tastes rather disappointingly like egg white.

In herb shops on Queen's Road West beyond the intersection with Hollywood Road, herbs, dried mushrooms, and other more mysterious ingredients offer the promise of longevity.

Don't poke your fingers into the grubby cages outside shops on Hillier Street, the center of the snake trade. A snake's meat is used in winter soups to ward off colds, and its gallbladder reputedly improves vigor and virility.