Athletes are warned on Chinese medicine

By Belinda Goldsmith

BEIJING (Reuters) - The oldest and biggest Chinese medicine store in Beijing is stocked with traditional ingredients like deer's penis, dried seahorses, fungi, and ginseng.

At one end there is now a counter with signs warning athletes over centuries-old stimulants.

With the majority of Chinese people taking traditional medicine to both keep them healthy and to cure illnesses, the government embarked on a campaign ahead of the Olympics to ensure there was no doubt over which drugs were off limits to athletes.

Kong Yan Ping, vice-manager of a 339-year-old Tongrentang store near Tiananmen Square, said about 100 of the 1,200 natural ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine were stimulants.

From May 1 all vendors of these medicines were required to isolate any that could contravene the International Olympic Committee's list of prohibited drugs and put up warning notices.

"Athletes should be careful with the drugs that include stimulants," read the blue signs above and on the counter.

Chinese Olympic officials have advised athletes not to take traditional remedies during the Aug 8-24 Games when the IOC will conduct 4,500 doping tests, up 25 percent on the Athens Games.

Several athletes have previously been banned for illegal elements found in innocuous over-the-counter medicine.