Herbal tea may be just the medicine for Shanxi

Employees in a herbal tea company in Yuanqu county work at a forsythia tea production line. CUI SONGLIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY

A milkvetch farm in Hunyuan county. WANG ZHONGXUN / FOR CHINA DAILY

A worker in Hengshan Tea Industry Corp in Hunyuan county removes impurities from dried leaves as part of the producing process. WANG ZHONGXUN / FOR CHINA DAILY

Shanxi’s medical herbal tea businesses are turning to the internet to attract new customers,livestreaming products with famous faces.

A recent livestream was broadcast on May 8,hosted by renowned anchorwoman Mu Zimeng,on the Shanxi channel of people.cn,the website of national newspaper People’s Daily.

Also present at the event were four executives of four renowned local herbal tea businesses.Mu started the livestream by telling the history of Shanxi’s herbal teas.

“In Shanxi,Shennong—the legendary emperor who pioneered China’s farming and medical industries—tasted more than 100 herbs to determine which can be used for curing illnesses.

“In this practice he was poisoned by some toxic plants but his life was saved by drinking certain herbal teas,”Mu said,citing local legends.

Mu later tasted some herbal teas brought by the four business leaders and asked questions about the characteristics of teas made of different ingredients.

Li Xiaofeng,chairman of Hengzong Milkvetch Tea Technology based in Datong city,introduced the milkvetch tea made by his company.

The businessman said milkvetch is an ingredient used in many traditional Chinese medicines.

The herbal tea made of milkvetch is also a health drink with benefits in improving sleep and digestion.

Zhang Yanfeng,general manager of Songjiagou Health Food based in Xinzhou city,introduced the sea buckthorn tea of his company.

He said sea buckthorn has rich amounts of vitaminc and antioxidants.

Mu drank a cup of sea buckthorn tea and said she was pleased with the refreshing and soursweet taste.

Meng Yi,chairman of Xinsheng Wild Plant Technology based in Daixian county also brought sea buckthorn tea to the event.

The executive added the drink is good for reducing weight.

Zhang Huaijun,general manager of Guanlin Agricultural technology based in Pingding county,introduced the forsythia tea.

He noted that the medical herb of forsythia was called by Qing Dynasty(16441911)emperor Kangxi“longevity herb”as it had been used as gifts to the royal families in history.

Zhang demonstrated how to steep the teas.“You should use water of 8085 C for steeping green forsythia tea and 90 C for red forsythia tea,”he said.

The event was the first livestream for Shanxi’s herbal teas,and attracted nearly 120,000 viewers.

Guo Yanjie contributed to this story.

By YUAN SHENGGAO