TCM gains ground

Traditional Chinese medicine, which has been practiced for thousands of years, is attracting new fans from abroad. Liu Zhihua finds out more.

Earlier this year, Dongzhimen Hospital, a TCM hospital affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, opened its international clinic in the heart of Beijing, to provide high-end health services to patients, using traditional Chinese medicine treatments and practices.

The clinic's target customers are expatriates. TCM, a practice that has been around for thousands of years, is finding new fans. Increasing numbers of foreigners who come to China to travel, work or live, have tried TCM and are convinced of its benefits.

Brigitte Winklehner, born in Austria, became a firm believer in TCM through her personal experiences.

"TCM is very useful and effective. It has helped me a lot in the past decade when I had several major operations," says the president of Eurasia-Pacific Uninet, a network which aims to establish contacts and scientific partnerships between Austrian universities and research institutions, and those in Asia and the Pacific region.

Because of her job, Winklehner has been spending a few months in China every year ever since 1995.

In 2003, she had hip replacement surgery in Austria, which led to severe pain and numbness in her left calf, causing difficulties whenever she walked.

The hospital suggested another operation. She refused and requested acupuncture, which was administered by a Greek doctor.

The acupuncture relieved her pain, and as soon as she could walk on crutches, Winklehner flew to Shanghai for further acupuncture treatment as she believed doctors there would be more capable than those from the West.