Same in Toronto. We have two Chinatowns here, and the downtown one has suffered for a while but especially since the pandemic, both from reduced foot traffic and Covid stigmatization. I remember going to the herbal shops only once on my own, to buy ingredients for a chicken herbal soup. Even though I didn't know the names of the ingredients, all I did was to show the person behind the counter an instagram photo that I had saved of all the ingredients and the shopkeeper knew instantly what to get.
I wish I knew what half of those ingredients even do! Sadly, I feel it'll be a lost art very soon.
Damn there must be a way to modernize the Chinese 'apothecary' and make Chinese soups cool again. I'm sure someone out there is doing a version of this with all this natural medicine boom. I'll take a look and report back!
Same in Toronto. We have two Chinatowns here, and the downtown one has suffered for a while but especially since the pandemic, both from reduced foot traffic and Covid stigmatization. I remember going to the herbal shops only once on my own, to buy ingredients for a chicken herbal soup. Even though I didn't know the names of the ingredients, all I did was to show the person behind the counter an instagram photo that I had saved of all the ingredients and the shopkeeper knew instantly what to get.
I wish I knew what half of those ingredients even do! Sadly, I feel it'll be a lost art very soon.
Damn there must be a way to modernize the Chinese 'apothecary' and make Chinese soups cool again. I'm sure someone out there is doing a version of this with all this natural medicine boom. I'll take a look and report back!