93 stores in Hong Kong and 32 across the border in China that sell freshly made herbal drinks and snacks.

One of Hung Fook Tong's best-selling products is Tortoise Plastron Jelly, a black, slightly bitter concoction made from the underbelly of a tortoise that folk medicine claims is good for the complexion. It is sold in an aluminium bag, like an energy drink.

"People love something traditional, but with the trendy packaging," he says.

Mr Szeto says demand is strong, with sales increasing at 20% a year, and turnover is expected to be around 700m Hong Kong dollars ($90m; £56m) this year.

Foreign interest

Image caption
China has hundreds of different varieties of tea

Overseas companies have taken note of the boom. In 2010 Starbucks, which opened one outlet in China every four days lastturned on a dime and began enrolling lung cancer patients with this fusion protein in the trial. Japanese patients began flying to South Korea, the nearest place with trial sites.

Dr. Mano said the first Japanese patient who went was so sick — heavily dependent on oxygen tanks and unable to swallow — that he had to be taken to the airport by medical helicopter and met by an ambulance at the airport in Seoul.

Two weeks later, Dr. Mano said, he went to Seoul to check on the patient. The man no longer needed oxygen and was walking in the neighborhood each day looking for good restaurants. The patient returned to Japan and lived for several more months.

Scientists said the ALK gene aberration tends to be more frequent in