WINTER is yin in nature - inactive, cold and damp. So according to traditional Chinese medicine, you should take more yang (hot) energy to consolidate the body's overall qi through the season.

For thousands of years, Chinese people have added herbs to meals to keep healthy and in winter to provide a burst of energy when spring finally arrives.

Many housewives in Hangzhou cook simple herbal dishes during the cold months, such as chicken stewed with huang qi - astragalus - a sweet herb that is slightly warm, and pig liver stewed with dang gui - angelica sinensis - which has antioxidant properties.

Medicinal diets can also be drawn up in a comprehensive way, with TCM doctors, pharmacists and cooks working together.

Some restaurants specialize in this, and in Hangzhou three TCM clinics run their own herbal-based restaurants offering delicacies without SMG or other additives but with many kinds of herbs.

Shanghai Daily sampled their health-giving fare.

Tianlutang Herbal Restaurant

Tianlutang in Hangzhou was established in 1849 as a TCM pharmacy that developed into a large clinic, which today features a herbal diet restaurant in Xixi Wetlands.

The restaurant's specialty is dun zhong, literally meaning stewed tureen. One tureen is for one person so each is tailored to a diner's health conditions. Water, herbs and meat or offal are placed in a tureen which is steamed for more than four hours to release the nutrition of herbs.

The dozens of tureens on offer have names explaining their medical function. For example, diners can tuck into duck tureen expelling dampness; pork tripe tureen nourishing the stomach; and turtle tureen toning the kidneys.

Customers must book a day in advance so staff can arrange the dishes according to requirements.

The restaurant also offers soy sauce duck. The ducks are raised on a farm near the restaurant and fed forage mixed with by-products of Chinese medicines, which in TCM theory is "warm."

Tianlutang also brews its own tonic alcohol - again with separate varieties for men and women. Six kinds of herb tea are offered free. Professed functions range from "cleaning the heat" and "cleaning the fat" to "expelling dampness" and "relaxing the bowels."

Address: Dragon Boat Pavilion on Fangxi Road in Hongyuan Garden, Xixi Wetlands

Tel: (0571) 8680-2001

Consumption: Above 250 yuan per person

Huqingyutang Herbal Restaurant

Huqingyutang Clinic in Hangzhou is an icon of traditional Chinese medicine. Established in 1874 by renowned businessman Hu Xueyan, it is famed both for its herbs and its doctors.

Today, the brand consists of the old clinic and pharmacy, part of a TCM museum, several pharmacy branches across the city, plus a herbal restaurant.

Every dish on the menu is stewed, steamed or sauteed with herbs.

There are no English names but the menu has photographs. Dishes change according to the season: those that provide heat appear in winter; while those to keep customers cool are available in summer.

A number of other dishes are on offer all year round.

Li Hongyan, senior pharmacist of Huqingyutang Clinic, who is involved creating recipes, recommends two dishes in winter: hot candied ginseng and shrimp sauteed with astragalus.

Ginseng as a general tonic is often available in dried form, either whole or sliced. But in the restaurant fresh ginseng is stewed at a high heat then coated with hot toffee made from sugar and honey in a traditional recipe called basi.

White ginseng is favored over the red variety, as red ginseng has too much heat energy for some people, says Li.

And the fresh form is chosen because "fresh ginseng has a special aroma and sweetness," explains the pharmacist.

The restaurant also offers fresh ginseng sauteed with sliced chicken.

Shrimp sauteed with huang qi is a must order, not only for its health properties but delicious taste. It helps treat the common cold and upper respiratory infections and strengthens and regulates the immune system.

The herb is sticky and slightly sweet, and the restaurant first stews it and removes some of its juice. Then shrimps are sauteed with the herb, before the juice is poured over the shrimp and astragalus.

The restaurant also features creative dishes such as jinbo kourou - pork belly braised with preserved vegetables and covered in gold foil. The gold is a thin edible slice, considered a powerful medicine that calms nerves and promotes healthy sleep. It is tasteless and has virtually no texture, simply melting into the savory meat and vegetables.

Beverages are also herbal - juice of fresh tie pi shi hu - dendrobium officinale - commonly used to enhance the immune system, and juice of red dates with powder of donkey-hide gelatin. This is believed to be good for women because both of the materials help the blood circulate.

All alcohol served are tonics, mostly liquor marinated with herbs such as ginseng, Chinese caterpillar fungus - chong cao - and deer antler.

Huqingyutang is a high-end restaurant, with most dishes costing hundreds or even thousands of yuan. While reservations are not required for the main dining area, private areas must be booked a week in advance.

Address: 146-1 Nanshan Rd

Tel: (0571) 8706-1117, 8707-7008

Consumption: Above 150 yuan (US$24) per person

Guangxingtang Herbal Restaurant

Guangxingtang Clinic is a leading TCM clinic attached to Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Its herbal restaurant is located in a 200-year-old wooden building, helping create a traditional ambience.

It only has two tables in its main hall and one table in the private dining area. Each table can sit 10 diners. It does not have a menu, instead providing dishes according to the season and customers' health considerations.

Consequently, diners must book at least a day in advance to advise about their party's health conditions, including medical history.

Customers are first served a cup of tea according to the season and weather; currently it's tea for clearing the throat.

For winter, the restaurant offers customers porridge to warm the stomach and warm dishes such as pigeon stewed with worm grass and lamb stewed with du zhong - eucommia ulmoides - said to reduce blood pressure and tone the liver and kidney.

Pigeon soup has a warming effect as it contains huang qi, du zhong, ba ji tian (morinda officinalis) - and dang shen (codonopsis pilosula), said to strengthen the immune system. Despite this heady brew of herbs, the resulting soup manages to avoid tasting like medicine.

In addition to providing warm dishes, the restaurant also lists items to reinforce yin energy, striking a balance. Cold energy specialties include lobster stewed with fresh tie pi shi hu and fried fish topped with platycladi seeds, said to soothe nerves.

Soy sauce duck, the traditional winter delicacy of Hangzhou, is also served, with the duck marinated in soy sauce with many added herbs.

Two kinds of liquor are offered, one for men, called rejuvenating alcohol, and one for women, known as beauty alcohol. Beverages for both sexes are baijiu with high alcohol percentages.

Address: No. 2, Shuangyanjing Lane (near Fengqi Road)

Tel: (0571) 8788-1600

Consumption: Above 298 yuan per person