TCM therapy lures more foreign fans

NANCHANG -- Nguyen Viet Ha, a Vietnamese girl, has been studying in China for a decade. She obtained a bachelor's degree and then a master's, and the journey all started with her father's dream.

"It was my father's dream to learn traditional Chinese medicine, but he is too old to learn the Chinese language, so I came here to carry on his dream," Nguyen said.

She recently received a master's degree in acupuncture and moxibustion from the Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in eastern China. In recent years, more foreigners like Nguyen have a growing interest in TCM.

Moxibustion is a TCM therapy that consists of burning moxa sticks, rolled in dried mugwort herb, on particular points of the body as a counterirritant.

However, the treatment of traditional moxibustion is not very effective, and it was even depressed in the 20th century, according to Chen Rixin, a professor from the university.

Based on the theory of TCM, Chen led his team to conduct a systematic study on the phenomenon of heat-sensitive moxibustion and made some improvements that increase the effectiveness of the therapy.

Today, the improved method is not only widely used in China, but also attracts foreign researchers and students.

In 2015, the university signed a cooperation agreement with a Portuguese college of traditional medicine on establishing the department of heat-sensitive moxibustion. Wider cooperation has been reached with the educational institutes in Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Brazil and Argentina.

Since 2015, more than 100 foreign politicians and international friends from more than 20 countries have come to Jiangxi Province to experience the culture of TCM, and the heat-sensitive moxibustion is a popular choice.

"The university promotes the cooperation with the Belt and Road countries on TCM education, treatment, research and industrial cooperation," said Yang Changxin, director of the university's International Cooperation and Exchange Office.

According to statistics from the university, there are 1,571 international students at the school. Many of them are studying TCM with western medicine or local medicine backgrounds and plan to combine both methods after returning home.

Erdene-Uul Khulan, a student from Mongolia, is one of them. After studying Mongolian traditional medicine in her hometown for six years, Khulan studied Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion for three years in Jiangxi.

"Doctors in Mongolia also use acupuncture, but the 'magic' technique of heat-sensitive moxibustion is unprecedented. I'm going to bring this knowledge back, and I'm sure it will help more patients," she said.