Official statistics show that there are now 38 colleges and schools with acupuncture departments that have been authenticated in the United States. Clinics of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture are allowed to be run in 40 states in the US. The New York State boasts as many as 2,500 acupuncturists. All these mean traditional Chinese medicine is playing more and more important role in the modern medical treatments.

In 1972 President Nixon opened the doors to China. A New York Times journalist James Reston was in China at the time and had an emergency appendectomy with acupuncture used as the anesthetic. This brought great prestige to acupuncture and renewed interest in this form of treatment. Seeing brain surgery performed with acupuncture drew big headlines

TMC learning tour features:

Beijing:

TCM Museum in Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

Beijing University of Chinese Medicine was founded in 1956. It plays a leading role among the national colleges and universities of Chinese medicine in academic fields, serving as an important base for training professionals of Chinese traditional therapies and pharmacology, and solving clinical problems through Chinese medicine. Since 1957, the University has recruited foreign students from 82 countries and regions and trained more than 1,800 undergraduates, postgraduates and in-service students.

Finished in 1990, the TCM museum in the university consists of two exhibitions on herbal medicine and history of Chinese medication, offering visitors a comprehensive knowledge of TCM in the ancient and modern China.

Tongrentang Pharmacy (in business since 1669)

Visiting the most famous Chinese pharmacy, the legendary Tongrentang is much like being inside a miniature museum of natural science. Located in an old part of Beijing, to the south of Tian'anmen Square, in business for over 300 years, this pharmacy was once a royal dispensary during the Qing Dynasty and still produces all the pills and secret concoctions once used by royalty. The enormous size of this pharmacy is overwhelming, as is the selection of remedies--small and large eggs, snakes coiled in spirals, dried monkeys, toads, tortoises, centipedes, grasshoppers, small fish, stag antlers, rhinoceros horns and testicles. And then there are the thousand kinds of dried and preserved herbs, blossoms, roots, berries and fruits.

Guilin:

Guilin TCM Hospital

Established in 1958, Guilin Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital is a medical center majoring in traditional therapies as well as modern diagnosis and treatments. She has 15 clinical and 4 technical departments with a staff of 450 and provides a wide range of medical and surgical services on an inpatient, outpatient, and emergency basis. The hospital has now grown to keep pace with the changing needs of patients and the rapidly advancing technology of health care. 

Since early 1990s, international corporation and exchange have been placed high priority by the management of the hospital based on the goodwill of promoting traditional Chinese medicine and therapies to provide foreign colleagues with some new ideas or alternatives to fight against diseases. Meanwhile, every year some outstanding doctors are sent to Kumamoto Kino Hospital in Japan for further study and academic exchanges.

Other highlights:

Xian- A well-known herbal market

Chengdu- Restaurant for a fantastic herbal meal

Key words of Traditional Chinese Medicine:

Acupuncture: Acupuncture involves the insertion of fine needles into the body at specific points that have shown over thousands of years of practice to be effective in treating specific conditions and illnesses. There are 365 Classical points located along 14 Meridians, or lines of energy that cover the entire body. Skillful location, insertion and manipulation of the needles achieve the desired effect. This is somewhat like knowing which switch in your home turns on which appliance.

The needles are usually retained in the body for 10 minutes to one hour.  While the patient is relaxed, the acupuncture practitioner may choose to manipulate particular needles at particular acupuncture points to give desired effects.  This action is to either nourish, or strengthen, or conversely, to drain or subdue.

Electrical stimulation is also sometimes indicated.  This is performed by placing small alligator clips onto the needles and passing a very mild battery generated electrical current through it.

Moxibustion: Moxibustion is the burning of cones made from the wool of the Mugwort plant on acupuncture points, or on broad areas of the body to achieve specific healing effects. In many cases, especially of deficiency it acts similarly to the acupuncture needle to stimulate the point.

The Moxa leaf is bitter and acrid, producing warmth when used in small amounts and strong heat when used in large amounts. Moxa is Yang in nature and is therefore used mainly to restore deficient Yang conditions. Moxa opens channels, regulates Qi and blood flow in the body, expels cold and dampness and warms the body.

Cupping: Cupping is a method of treating disease that is caused by local congestion. A partial vacuum is created in a cupping jar, usually by means of heat, which is then applied directly to the skin. The underlying tissue is drawn up into the jar forming an area of blood stasis. This appears bruising to the area. In ancient times, animal horns and bamboo jars were used, principally to drain pustulating sores.

Later this method was used to treat consumptive and rheumatic diseases. Today jars are made mostly out of glass to standard sizes and specifications, although bamboo jars are still occasionally used.

Tuina and Chinese massage: Tuina is an Oriental Bodywork Therapy that has been used in China for 2,000 years. It uses the traditional Chinese medical theory of the flow of Qi through the meridians as its basic therapeutic orientation. Through the application of massage and manipulation techniques Tuina seeks to establish a more harmonious flow of Qi through the system of channels and collaterals, allowing the body the naturally heal itself.

Qigong: Qigong (pronounced chee gong) is a Chinese system of physical training, philosophy, and preventive and therapeutic health care. Qi (or chi) means air, breath of life or vital essence. Gong means work, self-discipline, achievement or mastery. This art combines aerobic conditioning, isometrics, meditation, and relaxation. Qigong is a discipline whose practice allows us to gain control over the life force that courses throughout our bodies. There are more than 3,000 varieties of qigong, and five major qigong traditions: the Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, martial arts, and medical. Qigong is thus a soft form of a related set of disciplines that includes Taiji (Tai Chi Quan) and the hard form of Kung Fu.  

Tai Chi Chuan: Originated in about 500 A.D., Tai Chi Chuan is a form of exercise developed by the Chinese, but is more than just exercise. It is a path to mental, physical and spiritual fitness. 

Since this system of exercise is suitable for people of all ages and requires little or no special equipment, it has gained an enthusiastic reception all over the world. Tai Chi Chuan evolved to help people improve their physical health, and also improve their powers of meditation. In other words, Tai Chi Chuan enables people to survive through fitness and self-defense.

For more information on TCM, please visit the website of Swedish Karolinska Institute Library at http://www.mic.ki.se/China.html and http://tcm.health-info.org/