A participant tries to make a sachet at the Nantong Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

More than 100 participants in an international youth cultural exchange program visited the Nantong Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Aug 3, immersing themselves in the centuries-old heritage of Chinese medicine.

It is the first non-State-owned museum in Jiangsu province dedicated to TCM and the only venue in Nantong designated as a national-level TCM culture and education base.

The museum houses more than 1,000 artifacts across several exhibition areas, including displays on prominent Nantong physicians, a re-creation of a Qing-Dynasty (1644-1911) pharmacy, a gallery of medicinal herb specimens, and a section dedicated to insect-based remedies.

Guided by museum docents, the visiting students toured the galleries, examining ancient medical texts, vintage apothecary tools, and preserved medicinal plants and animal specimens.

One of the most popular activities was a sachet-making workshop, where students identified various herbs and assembled their own fragrant pouches. The session gave participants a tangible sense of the craftsmanship involved in traditional herbal preparation.

The visit concluded with a tasting of medicinal teas, through which the students were introduced to the TCM concept of preventive care, the idea of treating illness before it arises.