Audra Lowe: The Chinese year of the tiger roared in this weekend, and to celebrate Better TV went to New York City's Chinatown to unlock some ancient Chinese secrets that you can take advantage of.
Jill Blakeway: I'm Jill Blakeway licensed Acupuncturist Board Certified Herbalist. And today I've brought you to the heart of Chinatown in honor of Chinese New Year to look at the largest and oldest Chinese herbal pharmacy in New York City KAMWO. Tom good morning, happy new year.
Tom Leung: Hi Jill, happy new year.
Jill Blakeway: It's lovely to see you.
Tom Leung: Come on in.
Jill Blakeway: So Tom these are some of the more common Chinese herbs here that you have at the front of your store and I want to know if we could take a look.
Tom Leung: Oh sure, please.
Jill Blakeway: Tell me about this, they are very pretty.
Tom Leung: Yeah this is chrysanthemum and very common and people come in and they buy it to make tea as well as to put in soups as well.
Jill Blakeway: Its good for your eyes, isn't it?
Tom Leung: Absolutely. And it tastes great too.
Jill Blakeway: It does taste good.
Tom Leung: Right.
Jill Blakeway: And these are so pretty and at last people will know what these are, of course.
Tom Leung: Oh yeah, this is commonly referred to in popular culture Goji berries their real name referred is lycium berries. But we will go along Goju berry for now.
Jill Blakeway: And they're very nourishing.
Tom Leung: Very nourishing, yeah.
Jill Blakeway: Very nourishing you them in health food stores...
Tom Leung: And they sweet as well.
Jill Blakeway: They are, they are lovely.
Tom Leung: Everything.
Jill Blakeway: And I love this, these are a personal favorite of mine because they calm the mind which seems like a good thing. What are they?
Tom Leung: They are longan fruit, and actually you can buy them fresh in certain time in a year in the vegetable markets, but on the other times of years they come dry they are sweet, people eat and people put them in tea put them in soup.
Jill Blakeway: And they taste pretty good.
Tom Leung: And they are very good. Very addictive. So...
Jill Blakeway: Can I steal one?
Tom Leung: Absolutely.
Jill Blakeway: So Tom, I think one of the things that people find intimidating of these Chinese patterned medicines so it'd be lovely if we could explain a little bit about what they do.
Tom Leung: Sure.
Jill Blakeway: This one for instance, Yunnan Baiyao tell me a little about this.
Tom Leung: This is a very well known formulation that's good, it's good for bleeding.
Jill Blakeway: I keep it in my kitchen and I just sprinkle it on when I cut myself cooking. It works phenomenally and it's very safe and very effective. Tell me a little about this lovely little ball pear. Now you don't eat the ball. Do you?
Tom Leung: No, we don't.
Jill Blakeway: It's like a little ping-pong ball.
Tom Leung: It's what inside the ball, this formulation Wuii Baifeng Wan is used to nourish in and in layman language it help nourishes the blood and the fluids and often times postpartum woman love to use that, it helps them out a lot.
Jill Blakeway: So Tom some of my patients really hate the taste of that medicinal teas, they take them because they know that they are very good for them, they hate the taste, we are at the parts of the shop now that sells the nice tasting tea, are we?
Tom Leung: Right, that's right. We have green tea here and we also have red tea and people are quite familiar with the green teas, because of all the antioxidant properties they are well known and then there is -- we also red tea and the red tea is for digestive, that helps you digest a heavy meal.
Jill Blakeway: Smells good.
Tom Leung: Yes it does, let's toast to the New Year.
Jill Blakeway: Happy New Year Tom.
Tom Leung: Happy new year to the year of the tiger.
Jill Blakeway: Thank you so much for having us here at KAMWO.
Audra Lowe: Tom says the KAMWO has English speaking readers at the stores so everybody feels welcome.
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