Burning passion

Li donates herbal incense to the public in Beijing. CHINA DAILY

Today, herbal incense is increasingly being used to alleviate pain, treat mental health issues like depression, and to make skincare and cosmetic products.

Li has focused on continuing his family's tradition of making herbal incense for medicinal purposes and expanding its use in daily life.

His family has worked in the herbal-incense business since the mid-Qing Dynasty and has preserved traditional formulas and production processes once used to make incense for the royal family.

"I saw my elderly family members giving away herbal incense to people in our neighborhood in times of need," Li says.

His grandmother was also a well-known traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. So, it has long been a family precept to help others in difficult times.

He donated 6 tons of herbal incense during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

"The incense was very popular, and my neighbors asked for it, as did my customers and their friends," Li says.

He also shares his herbal incense with those around him during seasonal changes to help them ward off colds and fevers.

"It was fun to watch my family members make incense and play with herbal pastes," Li says.

"The fragrance eventually grew on me."

This allowed him to develop a sensitive nose for herbal aromas.

By the time he was 10, Li was already able to distinguish between a number of different herbs and knew several incense recipes by heart.

After taking over the family business in 1999, Li went to university to systematically study the history and art of traditional Chinese medicine, and to complement his existing knowledge.

"I felt I needed to expand my worldview and add to the family recipes," Li says.

He acknowledges some formulas and techniques may have been lost as they were passed through the generations. As such, he sought to fill in these gaps through education.

After university, he traveled across China and abroad to learn about the rich history of incense making and local production techniques. He exchanged notes with expert incense makers in the Tibet autonomous region, and Qinghai and Yunnan provinces, and studied methods of concocting incense with ingredients grown at high altitudes.