FONG WAN - Library

nations by which he gained the first and second military degrees. Con-
sequently, his official standing was higher than that of any other Chi-
nese herbalist in America. Dr. Wan came to the United States as a
member of the diplomatic corps of the second Chinese minister to
Washington. After the expiration of his official commission, he con-
ducted a herb business at 1133 Stockton Street, San Francisco, at which
place Fong Wan resided and studied with him for several years. The
establishment was totally destroyed by the fire that followed the San
Francisco earthquake in 1906. Dr. Wan did not again set up in busi-
ness, but accepted the appointment of Chinese Consul at New York.
Fong Wan continued his study of English in California for some time
and then went back to China. Upon his return to the United States,,
he established the Fong and Lee Herb Co., at 209 Fourth Street, Santa
Rosa, with which concern he was associated for five years. Seeking a
wider field, he founded the Fong Wan Co. in Oakland in 1915.
At the time that Fong Wan came to Oakland, none of the Chinese
Herbalists were doing much business. Many had been driven out of
town by the intereference of the Medical Board, while others, owing to-
their inability to relieve an appreciable percentage of the sufferers who
came to them, had been unable to gain the confidence of the public.
With Fong Wan it was different. He was successful from the beginning.
That success attracted numerous herbalists to Oakland, who
sought in vain to imitate his methods. Since 1918, more than 14 new
herbalists have opened establishments in Oakland; 80 per cent of them
have failed to make good and have left town. Before Fong Wan began
to serve the people of Oakland, there were very few Chinese herb com-
panies in that city, but at the present time, although San Francisco is
three times as large as Oakland, it has but half as many Chinese herb-
alists.
There' is no Chinese herbalist in San Francisco whose success has
been so outstanding as that of Fong Wan. Consequently, herbalists
have not been attracted to San Francisco as being a place where the
people have received great benefits from the use of Chinese herbs.
During the past 20 years, Fong Wan has given personal attention to
about 30,000 sufferers, many of whom have come to him, not only from
San Francisco, but from distant cities and towns. Throughout this
period, with the exception of a brief business trip to China, Fong Wan
has been on hand day after day, year after year. He is the company's^
sole herbalist and no person is ever substituted for him and represented
as Fong Wan. All sufferers are therefore assured of the opportunity
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