Youth mixing traditional medicine with cocktailsAFP, SHANGHAIIn a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Niang Qing bar owner Wu Siyuan, left, prepares a drink with a bartender at the traditional Chinese medicine-themed cocktail bar in Shanghai on Tuesday last week. “The combination of Chinese medicine and alcohol has a long history in TCM — it was traditionally called medicinal wine,” he said, adding that the bar targeted health awareness rather than treatment. Niang Qing was founded by students from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine only last year, but has already expanded to five locations across the country. TCM bars “draw people from online to offline, and the social experience it creates delivers emotional value,” Shanghai Jiao Tong University professor Hua Hui said.

Source: Taipei Times February 14, 2026 03:46 UTC