Traditional Chinese medicine's (TCM) approach to treating the body is to see it as a microcosm of the natural world, waxing and waning with the passing of the seasons. So in a diet based on the TCM approach to health, the focus is on eating foods that are in harmony with the season. The following is a selection of summer foods eaten as part of a TCM diet. They are all widely available in South China and are easy to find in Shenzhen.

Bitter gourd (kugua)

One of the most popular Cantonese summer foods, bitter gourd is a bright green cucumber-like vegetable with a bumpy skin. As its name suggests it has a bitter taste, which may take some getting used to for those with a delicate palette. But if the hot weather has taxed your energy and temper, or if you need something to cool down after a barbeque or a day spent tanning on the beach, bitter gourd is a highly effective food.

The easiest way to absorb bitter gourd's natural essence is to juice the vegetable: (1) Wash and cut in half lengthwise; (2) remove all seeds; (3) finely slice the gourd; (4) mix the finely chopped bitter gourd pieces with 250ml of purified water in a food processor, blender or juicer.

If you want to soften the bitter flavor, boil the bitter gourd pieces for 15 minutes before juicing.

In Cantonese cooking, bitter gourd is commonly stir-fried with pork, beef or egg. Tasty dishes of this kind can be found in many of Shenzhen's restaurants.

Lotus seeds (lianzi)

Lotus seeds are another popular way to beat the summer heat. A South China specialty, lotus seeds are classified in TCM as astringents, which are sweet and neutral, and good for the spleen, kidney, and heart. You can buy fresh lotus seeds at most farm markets, where a cheap plentiful supply can be found. Fresh lotus seeds can be eaten raw, although the seed's green kernel or core is quite bitter, and is usually removed before eating.

When dried, lotus seed kernels are valued for their healing powers in TCM, which uses the dried seeds to dispel pathogenic heat from the heart to treat fidgets and spontaneous bleeding caused by excessive heat. Some Cantonese use the kernel or whole dried lotus seeds for making porridge and desserts.

Dried lotus seeds are a key ingredient in a traditional Cantonese soup called Qingbuliang (literally means clean, reinforcing and cool). The soup's other ingredients are Chinese wild yams, wolfberry fruits, euryale seeds, millet, Solomon's seal, longan and pork. These are placed in a pot and covered in (water or stock) and gently boiled over a low heat for two to three hours.

Loofah (sigua)

Loofah is a member of the cucurbit or gourd family. A very watery vegetable, it gives out what seems like an endless stream of juice when cooked. This watery property helps to re-hydrate your body's cells. One way to judge whether a Cantonese chef really knows his craft is to see if he can serve up loofah stir-fired with pork (my summertime favorite), without any unwanted water. Dried loofah can also be used as a sponge for bathing or dish washing.

Herbal tea (liangcha)

Cantonese children grow up with mom's herbal tea, which forms an essential part of their daily life well into old age. Many Cantonese drink herbal tea once or twice a week as a preventative medicine and daily as a treatment, for everything from colds and headaches to indigestion and arthritis; it is also valued for its diuretic and laxative properties. Any good TCM doctor can help you formulate your own unique herbal tea dosage, which you can buy from a pharmacy and boil up at home. Although this is time-consuming, it is much more effective than herbal teas sold in supermarkets. A middle road taken by many is to buy one of the ready-made herbal tea formulas from a drugstore, although most people simply buy one of the mass-produced herbal tea brands available in all supermarkets and convenience stores. The most famous of these brands is probably Wanglaoji -- which comes in a familiar red can or green carton. Shenzhen's herbal tea lovers are spoilt for choice though, as the city boasts a plethora of specialist herbal-tea shops and stalls in drugstores (such as Concord). These shops and stalls are easily identifiable by the big metal pots set up at the entrance, in which the tea is kept.

Editor: Donald