Wet weather a time to take tea

Herbalist Ng Sze-yan, 55, has been working with Chinese herbs for more than 40 years. Mr Ng, who works in a shop in Quarry Bay, followed his uncle in learning Chinese medicine. He migrated to Hong Kong about 10 years ago. His son, 30, is also a herbalist, in Guangzhou.

What is on your mind? We have been busy in recent days. People easily get sick with the wet weather and more people have come to us for herbal tea. To get rid of the 'damp' in your body, you can use yam, lily seeds and pork to boil up a soup.

Some people do not like to take herbal tea because they think it is too inconvenient and too time-consuming to prepare it.

What are you going to do about it? Actually, Chinese herb tea can be a fine tonic. Unlike Western drugs, it can give strength and energy without any side effects. In some senses, Chinese medicine is safer than Western medicine.

I have been in the trade for more than 40 years and actually could be a doctor myself. Sometimes I prescribe herbal soup for myself when I feel sick. I am very healthy and I seldom have any problem.

What do you expect to do tomorrow? It is routine. Every day I have to inspect the more than 1,000 kinds of herbs stored in the shop. Guess what, I can identify all of them by their smell. No matter how small a shop is, it has to stock at least 400 commonly taken herbs.