She (the ginger maker) has been following her Yao medicine father into the mountains to collect herbs, sun-dry them, and make ginger since she was in her teens.

The Yao Mountains belong to the high-cold mountainous region, where ginger is in demand every year. Under the influence of her Yao medicine father (historically, the Yao ethnic group did not have their own script, and the transmission of Yao medicine relied entirely on oral communication, pointing to teach medicine, pointing to teach symptoms, forming a unique system within the ethnic group), she continues to pass down the ancient method of preparing medicine known as ‘Nine Steams and Nine Sun-dries.’

With over 50 years of experience in ginger production, she places great emphasis on the requirements of the raw materials. In the market, there is often a rush for ginger, so she insists on growing and processing ginger in the mountains. The villagers in the mountains still use the method of ‘slash-and-burn’ farming, clearing the hills, weeding, and using wood ash as fertilizer.

After the ginger completes its growth cycle, it is stored in an underground cellar for over 100 days. Traditional cellaring gives ginger a second life, and ginger that has undergone cellaring is referred to as ‘ginger mother.’ Ginger mother contains unique gingerol, a mixture composed of various substances. It is the spicy substance in ginger that can quickly generate heat in your body and increase the rate of metabolism.

Traditional ginger tea can provide energy for women during their menstrual periods. Many women have a cold constitution, and ginger tea can alleviate internal cold and dampness. Therefore, many women have the habit of drinking ginger tea. Pure plant-made brown sugar contains rich iron and minerals, which can also increase the body’s energy.

Yao medicine believes that there is both opposition and unity between the organs in the human body and between the human body and the external environment, thereby maintaining a relative balance of gain and loss and normal physiological activities. When this dynamic balance of gain and loss is disrupted due to certain reasons from the external environment or within the human body and cannot be restored on its own, the human body will develop illnesses. The reasons that disrupt the relative balance of gain and loss in the human body and cause diseases are called pathogenic factors.