{"id":30833,"date":"2026-02-23T11:36:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30833"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:36:42","slug":"tcm-bar-in-china-makes-customers-drinks-based-on-its-doctors-diagnoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30833","title":{"rendered":"TCM bar in China makes customers drinks based on its doctor\u2019s diagnoses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretches out both wrists to have her pulse taken \u2013 the first step in ordering the house special, a bespoke \u201chealth\u201d cocktail based on <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">traditional Chinese medicine<\/span> (TCM).<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cTCM bars\u201d have popped up in several cities across China, epitomising what the country\u2019s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as \u201cpunk wellness\u201d, or \u201cwrecking yourself while saving yourself\u201d.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">At Shanghai bar Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers\u2019 physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Instead of shelves of alcohol, apothecary drawers stocked with ingredients such as <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">goji berries<\/span> and angelica root line the walls, permeating the room with their scents.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThis bar is actually an opportunity for me,\u201d 26-year-old Zhao says, describing her \u201ctypical young person\u201d lifestyle of late nights and junk food. \u201cI like having a drink after work anyway, and this way I can casually check if something is wrong with me, while also holding on to a bit of wishful thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-0 e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"TCM practitioner Ding (left) checks a customer\u2019s pulse and tongue at the Niang Qing bar before prescribing herbs and roots for the bartender to mix into a \u201chealth shot\u201d. Photo: AFP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/02\/16\/3ea1dcd0-82c0-4026-8999-7f6b50a9305b_d4176415.jpg\" title=\"TCM practitioner Ding (left) checks a customer\u2019s pulse and tongue at the Niang Qing bar before prescribing herbs and roots for the bartender to mix into a \u201chealth shot\u201d. Photo: AFP\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1ixmelf e1gf69pb1\">TCM practitioner Ding (left) checks a customer\u2019s pulse and tongue at the Niang Qing bar before prescribing herbs and roots for the bartender to mix into a \u201chealth shot\u201d. Photo: AFP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The bar\u2019s resident TCM practitioner, Ding, says the concept is not as contrary as it may seem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/food-drink\/article\/3343721\/tcm-bar-china-makes-customers-drinks-based-its-doctors-diagnoses?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretches out both wrists to have her pulse taken \u2013 the first step in ordering&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2917,5918,832,746,16357,1994,874,7680],"class_list":["post-30833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-bar","tag-based","tag-china","tag-customers","tag-diagnoses","tag-doctors","tag-drinks","tag-tcm","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}