In recent years, the Chinese government has been promoting the TCHM, short for Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Especially for COVID. At some point, Chinese media claimed that 90 % of Chinese patients with COVID-19 use TCHM, with an effectiveness rate of 80 %, and no deterioration in patient condition. It has caused fierce debate among Chinese Netizens. The critics pointed out that there was no control group in the data, and majority of COVID patients recovered without treatments.
Nonetheless, last two years, many people complained on social media that during quarantine or lockdowns, they were forced to take TCHM, in front of the medical workers. Sometimes in the middle of the night.
For example, Zhong Nanshan, leading medical advisor to the Government on Covid response, promoted publicly the usage of a controversial TCHM of Lianhua Qingwen capsules for treating Covid-19 infection. Later, the Swedish government announced that the drug had no effect and even banned importing it. Then, surprise, people found out that Zhong Nanshan and his colleagues “were financially tied to the Yiling Pharmaceutical company that supplies the capsules”.
(Note: some TCHM can be made into capsules for easiness to be taken.)
In Chinese, to drink TCHM to be rehabilitated is often used as a magical solution to any health problems.
Do you have insomnia? Please drink TCHM to be rehabilitated.
Depression? Please drink TCHM to be rehabilitated.
Headache? Please drink TCHM to be rehabilitated.
You get the idea.
The first tweet showed up on Dec 19th. It says:
Homosexuality? I got it once. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
Then on Dec 20th, some one said:
Husband? I got it once. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
On Dec 28th, some one repeated the first tweet:
I used to be homosexual too. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
Somehow this time it clicked. Chinese twitter is now flooded with this TCHM meme. And then more people ask: what is this about? And so on.
I used to want to fall in love. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
I used to be Chinese. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
I used to have narrow eyes. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
I used to be too young. Then I drank some TCHM for ten years and I was rehabilitated.
I used to write program code with lots of bugs. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.
I used to have term limits of 2. Then I drank some TCHM and I was rehabilitated.