Oscar-winning director takes a fancy to Chinese acupuncture

"He is not against Western medicine, there are specific cases where he says this is better looked by Western doctors," Donnersmarck said when he took his family members to see Dr. Wu, who would look carefully at the diagnosis made by Western doctors. "He knows every aspect of Western medicine."

Traditional Chinese medicine originated in ancient China and has evolved over thousands of years. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners use herbal medicines and various mind and body practices, such as acupuncture and Tai chi, to treat or prevent health problems.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Americans now use Traditional Chinese Medicine primarily as a complementary heath approach and millions of US adults have used acupuncture in recent years.

In March, the State of Wyoming passed its first acupuncture law, which has made Wyoming the 47th state to regulate the practice of acupuncture.

Dr. Wu pointed out that there are about 54,000 licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors in the United States, and half of them live in California.

"It is not easy for Traditional Chinese Medicine to be recognized in the United States," Wu told Xinhua. "More people start to understand that Chinese medicine and Western medicine should be brought together. This is not an either-or case."

As a filmmaker, Donnersmarck pointed out that, as more and more China-U.S. jointly produced films coming to the big screen in recent years, Western medicine and Chinese medicine should work together as well. People can learn more about Chinese culture through co-production movies as well as through Traditional Chinese medicine.

"I think each country has great things to contribute (to this world), and I think one of the great things that China has to contribute is Traditional Chinese medicine," he added.