Inside Lei Yun Shang’s traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic in Shanghai, a long queue of people wait to see a practitioner. Few of them are here because they are unwell, though.
“It’s been a practice for Shanghainese, called zibao, to come and get a wellness check as winter sets in,” says Qiu Jingchuan, deputy chief practitioner at Lei Yun Shang.
Lei Yun Shang (LYS) has a history that can be traced back to 1734. It is one of the “big four” Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers from Shanghai whose proprietors extended their businesses in Hong Kong after the Communist Party came to power in 1949. Its operations in mainland China became a public-private enterprise that thrives to this day.
Lei Zichun, a great-great-grandson of the eponymous founder of LYS, is credited with inventing Lu Sheng pills, a cure for coughs, colds and other ailments that is a household name in China.
Qiu says the venerable clinic is seeing more of a new type of client. “We find younger people are coming to see us for their yearly check-ups.”