A family tradition of herbal care

From a village to California

The story begins with Sandra’s father, a refugee who survived the upheaval of the Vietnam War. After his village was destroyed, his family fled to Hong Kong before eventually being resettled in the Bay Area.

He arrived with little more than determination, knowledge, and a deep understanding of herbal medicine. He built a life caring for others through the healing traditions he had carried with him.

Merit Herbal Shop, Oakland Chinatown

Merit Herbal Shop was established in a small storefront of nearly 300 square feet in the heart of Oakland Chinatown, across from Lincoln Elementary School.

Her father cared for his patients one at a time while her mother helped gather and prepare their herbal packets. He checked pulses, examined tongues, and prepared remedies by hand. On many occasions he travelled from home to home to care for people who were unable to leave their homes.

He was supporting a family of seven children. To him, healing was personal and honest work, rooted in service to his community.

Homework at the shop

To his children, the shop became much more than a place of work. It kept them close, gave them a safe place to be after school, and connected them to their Chinese heritage and culture.

After American school, Sandra and several of her siblings would report to the shop, finish their homework, and help their father translate English for his patients. By five o’clock they would head around the corner to Milton Shoong Chinese School.

It was there, at just eleven years old, that Sandra was first exposed to Traditional Chinese Medicine. At home, when someone was sick, there was no question about what came next: you would be handed a bowl of hot, bitter herbal decoction.

Training, and finding the way back

Watching her parents practise an ancient healing tradition, and seeing how it helped people, left a lasting impression. In her first year of college Sandra faced her own health challenges with PCOS, and that experience became an even stronger reason to pursue a path as a natural healer.

She went on to attend South Baylo University, where she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

For a time her path took her in a different direction. Along the way she saw countless people push through exhaustion, stress and declining health simply because life demanded it. Eventually she found her way back to the practice she had known since childhood and trained for throughout her life.

Carrying the tradition forward

Sandra returned not to build a large business, but to continue a family tradition: helping people care for themselves naturally, patiently and consistently. One person at a time, just as her father did.

She understands those struggling with physical and emotional challenges, because she has faced many of them herself. And she carries the tradition forward not simply as a business, but as a way of caring, a way of living, and a legacy worth passing on.