Beijing tourism with a healthy touch

Millennia-old approaches to health are blended with visitor hotspots, Su Zhou reports.

For visitors to Beijing, a trip to the Great Wall now can be so much more than simple sightseeing. They can practise tai chi, an ancient form of exercise and meditation, on the wall as part of a package that combines traditional tourism with traditional Chinese healthcare.

To attract more overseas visitors, tourist agencies in Beijing have started special tourist itineraries that include traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

The tours still contain the capital's famous scenic spots, but also combine the traditional ways that Chinese use to keep healthy. For example, overseas tourists can sample traditional Chinese herbal cuisine at the Summer Palace, practise tai chi on the Great Wall and experience massage and acupuncture in royal mansions.

"This service will be a new engine for Beijing's inbound travel industry," said Wang Yue, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development.

It is also expected to help transform Beijing from a sightseeing destination into a more complete vacation destination.

Seven major online and offline travel agencies have joined the initiative. They are integrating Beijing's tourism resources by working with TCM research centres, medical treatment institutions and cultural centres.

"TCM is widely misunderstood by both Chinese and expats," said Duan Yili, manager of premium tourism services at China Comfort Travel Group Co.

"They believe that TCM is just drinking bitter herbal tea with unknown ingredients and more related to the elderly. But actually it is not like that.

"We think TCM is more of a healthy lifestyle that helps you to keep fit by eating the right food in the right season, and helps you relieve stress and adjust your body functions during a busy day," added Duan.

Beijing, as the capital of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, has both TCM science resources and millennia of cultural heritage. The city also has the oldest "imperial physician culture" that evolved as retired imperial physicians passed down their knowledge in Beijing.

"With the boom in medical tourism, more foreigners began to explore alternatives to mainstream Western medicine," said Yu Liangbing, general manager of the inbound online tourism division at China CYTS Tours Holding Co. "Beijing's TCM care services are attracting more people from around the world because it stands for a natural and 'green' lifestyle."

Yu said the agency would provide TCM medical services that tourists requested such as booking hospitals, providing interpreters and giving free consultations.

Experts said Beijing had advantages in TCM, but qualifying for payment under foreign insurance plans remained a big hurdle.

"But in some European countries such as Turkey and Cyprus, more than half of people are not covered by public insurance, so Chinese medical institutions have big opportunities," said Li Jingwen, general manager in Beijing for McBridge, a medical business consultant with offices in China and Germany.

Liu Tingfang, a professor at the Institute for Hospital Management at Tsinghua University, said China needed to build a medical certification system accepted worldwide.

"Only by showing certifications can we gain trust from international patients, and it also facilitates the reimbursement process at commercial insurance companies."

Wang Chao contributed to this story. Contact the writer through suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn