When you are learning  Chinese culture, you will find that the Chinese especially value the  cultivation of long life. They prefer to have precious herbs to improve  physical conditions.

In times of learning  Chinese, it is necessary to know the most popular tonics in China. Bird  nest (燕窩 yànwō) is the first choice for middle-aged people.  Bird nest is the oral secretion of swiftlets, collected from the binding material  of their nests. Its alleged effects includes promoting beautiful skin for women  strengthening the spleen and open up the stomach, improving appetite and  digestion. Korean or Chinese ginseng (高麗參 Gāolìshēn) is also a  regular choice of tonics. It helps to promote circulation, increase blood  supply, revitalize and aid recovery from weakness after illness. The ginseng  root is often double steamed with chicken meat as a soup, and the ingredients  are slow cooked for couple of hours to ensure the nutrient is blended in the  soup. The ginseng is sliced to make tea sometimes-- a few slices are soaked in  hot water. That is the easiest way to eat it.

During your Chinese  lesson, you may as well hear about the other foods that are frequently  used for maintaining health. Watercress (西洋菜 xīyángcài) is for removing  excessive yang in the body. The sweet almond kernels (南杏仁 nánxìngrén) and  bitter almond kernels (北杏仁 běixìngrén) target the lungs, hense if you have a  cough, you can eat more of them. The dried duck gizzards (乾鴨腎 gān yā-shèn) are  used to balance the yin-yang of the recipe. Watercress is available in most  supermarkets while the rest of the ingredients can be found in most Chinese  herb stores. Chinese food culture is broad and profound, if you combine it with  your Chinese  learning process, you will get fun from it.

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