In China, before prescribing you pills, cachets or injections, a doctor will ask you if you don’t mind trying antibiotics or other medicine. Europeans will be surprised or even stunned by a question like that, but for the locals, that is a pertinent one. In Tianxia, pills are alternative medicine, and people opt for it only in extreme cases only. Why feed your body with some chemicals if there is the ginseng root, snakes, and a whole field of medicinal herbs, and there is hemp growing nearby which can be turned into a marvelous headache soothing wine?

For almost 5 000 years, the Chinese apply alternative medicine methods, treating themselves with herbs and infusions. And as it is well-known, the longevity in this country is one of the highest in the world. To get a closer look at Chinese medicine, there is no need to have a runny nose or complain of lower back pain, it is more than enough to go to the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, located in the suburb of Shanghai. It operates three museums: the Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the University History Hall, and the Chinese Medicine Specimen Hall.

Have you noticed how the building is situated? If you have ever studied the feng shui rules, you will get immediately what it is all about. At the entrance, there are monuments of Shennong, the ruler of China, the first ideologist of traditional medicine, and Zhang Zhongjing, a prominent doctor. He invented more than a hundred formulas that are still used.

Inside the three-floor building, there are some things that can shock any European: snakes, tortoise shells, pearls, coals, and much more. The exhibition comprises 14 000 artifacts. Here, you will see a scene with a sick person attending a doctor, diverse porcelain statues, needles, fumigators, and vials with unknown liquids. Photos of doctors, portraits of scientists and stamps are also displayed here.

In this museum of traditional Chinese medicine, you get the feeling of entering a hut of a voodoo where weird substances are stored. You will have to forget about your smartphone camera because it is prohibited to shoot inside but a simple tour will be enough. Such a close examination of traditional Chinese medicine will be remembered for a long while.