The mascots of the Asian Games look at a display of traditional Chinese medicine at Huqing Yutang, a centuries-old pharmacy, in Hangzhou on June 6. [Photo/Hangzhou Daily]

The three mascots of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games paid a special visit to the Huqing Yutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum in Hangzhou on June 5.

Renowned as the "Herbal King south of the Yangtze River," Huqing Yutang boasts a history of 149 years. Upon the mascots' arrival, experienced TCM practitioners from Huqing Yutang conducted pulse diagnoses, offering valuable advice to the lively trio on the importance of regular exercise and heat prevention during the summer.

Ding Guangming, a 74-year-old inheritor of the traditional craftsmanship of handmade pharmaceuticals, has been an apprentice at Huqing Yutang for an impressive 57 years since joining in 1966.

During the visit, he demonstrated his extraordinary skills in the art of making pill formulations by hand, a meticulous process that involves shaping medicinal ingredients from powder into uniform pills. The process consists of five essential steps: mold formation, pill shaping, capping, and final formation.

The mascots marveled as he deftly rotated a plaque, causing the powdered ingredients to rhythmically spin and jump within it. By adding droplets of water and repeating the process, the powdered mixture gradually transformed into uniformly sized pills.