Tea is the Cure... According to the Chinese Government by Corran Nolan

During the SARS Epidemic in China, one so called "cure" emerged as a supposed infection prevention for the disease; Ban Lan Gan, and herbal tea, then again during the Bird Flu Epidemic. This year, with the threat of the Bird Flu still looming over the population of China, many people are going Ban Lan Gan crazy. The reason for this is that the government is encouraging it as a cure to create a placebo effect in the population, believing that peace of mind is a good thing even though it has not actually been proven to prevent the disease. But does it actually work? Even though it has some anti-viral properties, it can also damage the digestive tract and the liver. So far the government of China has not stopped promoting the drug, and many people still believe Ban Lan Gan is the magical "cure-all" remedy for epidemics.
This article is important because it shows how early cultural ideas still affect the way people think today, and how world governments do what they think is best at the time, even though it may not be. The author's opinion is that the Chinese government should stop supporting Ban Lan Gan because it is hypocritical; the Chinese government has always supported transparency and scientific literacy, but they are not being transparent and promoting false scientific facts.

Source: http://worldcrunch.com/china-2.0/why-chinese-officials-are-prescribing-herbal-tea-to-ward-off-deadly-bird-flu/h7n9-bird-flu-epidemic-virus-flu/c9s11440/#.UXXtt7WG2Lw