TCM foodstuffs help to sweeten bitter pill

Soft and buttery with a creamy filling, the bread Caicai bought one recent afternoon tasted like an ordinary milk bun at first — until a subtle herbal accent emerged.

The loaves are sold at a bakery affiliated with a traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, and are fortified with several TCM ingredients such as Chinese angelica, tuckahoe and goji berries.

"I usually rely on TCM to regulate my overall health condition. So when I heard the hospital was selling this bread, I was immediately intrigued," said 35-year-old Caicai.