tong ren tang pharmacy in Beijing

[Guest guest]

A little background for those not familiar with the store Tong Ren

Tang... Beijing's original Tong Ren Tang store has been located across

from the Forbidden City since the Qing Dynasty. Their flagship store

still exists there, in the area called Qian Men in modern Beijing.

Tong Ren Tang is one of the oldest businesses in China, it's said that

they used to supply the Imperial compound with Chinese herbs sourced

from Anguo. Tong Ren Tang is now a huge chain of pharmacies in China,

and they produce both pharmaceutical drugs and Chinese herb extracts

of all types under their own brand.

 

One thing that I would recommend for any TCM fan in Beijing is a trip

to Tong Ren Tang. They have some great displays and some branches

have true experts in cordyceps and ginseng on staff. If one asks

specific questions and catches the right person, it is easy to learn

some interesting things. Like I said before, it's best to go there to

check out high-end and rare products that are hard to see and learn

about elsewhere; the best branches to go to are the ones in Taipei,

Hong Kong, and the Beijing Qian Men central store. The Beijing store

used to have a wild ginseng root priced at over 1 million RMB (someone

bought it a couple years ago!).

 

Eric Brand

[Guest guest]

Tong Ren Tang has a dark side also.

 

I lived in Beijing for a year in 2007-2008. While I was there my TCM

school came to China for a month long trip. It was a group of about

20 students and they did a variety of activities relating to TCM,

Daoism, and general tourism (like buying fake Gucci bags, seeing the

Great Wall, etc.).

 

I took a day off work to go with them on a guided tour of Beijing. We

started in the morning at Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. After

lunch they told us we were going to a " Traditional Chinese Pharmacy " ,

which turned out to be Tong Ren Tang. The guide didn't know we were a

TCM school, but everyone was excited to see the most famous pharmacy

in China. So we got there and they had us go into a room where a

kindly old doctor explained that Chinese medicine was based on the

harmony of nature, blah, blah, blah.

 

After his spiel, about 10 more old doctors with young translators

filed in and they asked if anyone wanted to be " diagnosed " . Well, of

course we did! I had one of them take a look at my wife. He asked a

couple of quesitons, glanced at her tongue and pulse and then

declared that this one particular prepared pill was perfect for her.

I asked the price and it was astronomical, even for the USA. Hundreds

of dollars for just a few bottles. I explained that we lived in

Beijing and could easily fill a raw formula and that it would be much

more affordable. The doctor got a little peeved at me and told me

that these pills he was offering me were normally available only to

government officials.

 

Needless to say, I didn't buy the pills. Some of my classmates were

silly enough to fall for the scam and were furious a few hours later

when they realized that these were not " special " doctors or pills.

 

The guide got an earfull from the people who fell for the scam, and

the next day when she took us to a " special " jade factory, nobody was

buying.

 

Enjoy!

[Guest guest]

Well, all of us at one time or another has seen one of the slimier

aspects of " the tradition " .

Doug

 

, " carlstimson "

<carlstimson wrote:

>

> Tong Ren Tang has a dark side also.

>

> I lived in Beijing for a year in 2007-2008. While I was there my TCM

> school came to China for a month long trip. It was a group of about

> 20 students and they did a variety of activities relating to TCM,

> Daoism, and general tourism (like buying fake Gucci bags, seeing the

> Great Wall, etc.).

>

> I took a day off work to go with them on a guided tour of Beijing. We

> started in the morning at Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. After

> lunch they told us we were going to a " Traditional Chinese Pharmacy " ,

> which turned out to be Tong Ren Tang. The guide didn't know we were a

> TCM school, but everyone was excited to see the most famous pharmacy

> in China. So we got there and they had us go into a room where a

> kindly old doctor explained that Chinese medicine was based on the

> harmony of nature, blah, blah, blah.

>

> After his spiel, about 10 more old doctors with young translators

> filed in and they asked if anyone wanted to be " diagnosed " . Well, of

> course we did! I had one of them take a look at my wife. He asked a

> couple of quesitons, glanced at her tongue and pulse and then

> declared that this one particular prepared pill was perfect for her.

> I asked the price and it was astronomical, even for the USA. Hundreds

> of dollars for just a few bottles. I explained that we lived in

> Beijing and could easily fill a raw formula and that it would be much

> more affordable. The doctor got a little peeved at me and told me

> that these pills he was offering me were normally available only to

> government officials.

>

> Needless to say, I didn't buy the pills. Some of my classmates were

> silly enough to fall for the scam and were furious a few hours later

> when they realized that these were not " special " doctors or pills.

>

> The guide got an earfull from the people who fell for the scam, and

> the next day when she took us to a " special " jade factory, nobody was

> buying.

>

> Enjoy!

>

[Guest guest]

I totally agree with you.

My husband and I took the same tour last November.

We didn't get ripped off on either the Ton Ren Tang or at the Jade store.

My patient had the same experience too.

 

Ta-Ya Lee, MSN, CRNP, MAc, LAc, MBA

Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

Wyman Park Internal Medicine

Phone 410-338-3421 Fax 410-338-3413

 

Canton Crossing Integrative Medicine

410-522-9940