THE

RUBIN

 
 
 

PRC-Tibet > Shigatse/Tsang

Preparing a Mixture

Footage by Theresia Hofer (2007)

The pharmacy of the Tibetan hospital attached to Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse produces forty different formulas for the hospital. Nearly a dozen people work in the pharmacy and they output around one thousand kilograms of pills each year. Here they are shown preparing Trinsel 25 , used to treat rheumatism. All of the formula’s twenty-five ingredients are weighed separately and assembled in a large basin before they are ground into powder.

Under Chinese law, small pharmacies producing exclusively for a hospital are exempt from the requirement to follow the government’s Good Manufacturing Practices. This keeps prices low and affordable in smaller populations, like those served by the Tashilhunpo Monastery hospital.

Are you Balanced?