风油精 (FengYouJing)
风油精 - WD40 for the human body
Intrigued by this little green bottle, picked up in a chemist in Yangshuo, I asked on Twitter what 风油精 was normally used for.
@JunkFoodJo: “Everything and anything.”
@Mal_Asian: “It’s pretty much a cure all.”
@MrYap: “A WD40 for human body parts.”
It turns out that this isn’t too far from the truth. Amongst the uses for 风油精 are:
- cure for headaches
- cure for dizziness
- cure for gas
- treats nausea
- treatment for stomach ache
- ointment for bruises
- cure for a blocked nose
- pain killer
- treatment for insect stings
- treatment for mosquito bites
A quick look at the wiki entry on Baidu reveals the following additional uses (electronic translation used):
- deodorant
- cure for blisters
- can be used on mouth ulcers
- cure for a sore throat
- to help you sleep
- to remove self adhesive lables
- to help remove correction fluid that has spilt on the table
It would seems as if this truly is a magic potion, but the jury is out on whether this can be taken orally or not. Some suggest you can, others suggest you can’t. Personally, I’m not going to try it.
Many thanks to: @JunkFoodJo, @Mal_Asian, @MrYap, @VeggieInLove, and @Puerhan for contributing on Twitter.
Have you used this magic green potion? Is there anything it can’t cure. The comments are all yours.
So, is it made of snake oil or the usual baijiu and seahorses? I wouldn’t trust anything that makes that many claims.
The last thing I’d trust Google Translate with is a list of ingredients. No idea what it is made from but eucalyptus oil sounds like a safe bet. It smells good.
The leaflet that came with the bottle can be seen below:
Hi Bill, how is this magic potion working? I’m thinking about buying some off Ebay. Looks interesting and not too expensive. Don’t think I’ll be drinking it though..
If you are buying of eBay the I’d definitely not be drinking it. I can’t attest to the healing properties of this magic green liquid, but I like the smell.
Hmm, my magic potion of choice is Zheng Gu Shui. It has a cute flyer with cartoons that implies it will do almost anything for the human body, externally. Makes a great rub for sore muscles, put some on a cotton ball to smell when you have a cold, etc. but, like the American muscle rubs, don’t touch mucous membranes, eyes, or *!* after using it.
I see there are lots of Zheng Gu Shui selling on ebay- I will give it a go – thanks for the recommendation