HOW CHINESE HERBS ARE PREPARED 



There are more than a thousand varieties of Chinese Medicinal 

 Herbs, most of which are gathered by specially trained persons in the 

 great province of Sze Chuan, in Western China. These herbs consist 

 of leaves, bark, berries, and roots, all of which must be cleaned and 

 steamed in order to sterilize them. The roots, moreover, are given a 

 special scrub and then steamed for twenty-four hours. After having 

 been steamed, the herbs are either put into the sun to dry; "or in case 

 the weather is rainy, are dried under shelter in specially constructed 

 ovens. 



As a rule, however, the herbs are not put through these processes in 

 the province in which they are gathered, but are shipped immediately 

 to Hong Kong to exporting firms having special facilities for cleaning, 

 cutting, steaming and drying herbs on a large scale, as well as for sani- 

 tary packing and for shipping. While the processes to which the herbs 

 are subjected in preparing them for market serve both to remove all 

 foreign matter and to thoroughly sterilize them, they do not, however, 

 rob them of their healing properties or of their delicate fragrance. 

 When a well-sealed box of these carefully prepared herbs is received 

 in the United States and opened, the room is filled with an aroma com- 

 parable only to that of the forests in May. 



There is one conspicuous difference between Chinese and Occidental 

 herbs. The latter are generally sold in small packages and are ground 

 almost to a powder, while the Chinese herbs from which one cup of tea 

 is made are in large pieces, each leaf, berry, or piece of bark or root be- 

 ing distinct from the others. In fact, a package of Chinese herbs, in- 

 stead of containing two or three teaspoonfuls of powdered herbs, con- 

 tains about three cupfuls of herbs of approximately twenty varieties, 

 each in its natural color and form. Again, most Occidental herbs are 

 merely steeped before drinking, but in order to make a cup of tea from 

 a package of Chinese herbs, one must add four cups of water and boil 

 them for half an hour, after which they are strained before drinking. 



HERBS PART OF NATURE'S VEGETATION ELEMENT 



If we cut, grind or boil it, any herb carried by the Fong Wan Co. 

 can be eaten without the slightest harm to the human system. When 

 these herbs are compounded by our Specialist who has an extensive 



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