Tongrentang (同仁堂), a royal drug firm 330 years ago, plans to increase its total sales value to 10 billion yuan (1.2 billion US dollars) within ten years and become a multinational pharmaceutical producer. Mei Qun, general manager of the China Beijing Tongrentang Groups, made the announcement at a forum on traditional Chinese medicine, which is part of the ongoing Beijing International Hi- Tech Industries Week.

According to Xinhuanet, the International Council of Acupuncture and Related Techniques (ICMART) held its 2001 symposium in Berlin on June 14-17, to discuss the growing worldwide interest in the traditional Chinese therapy.

Over 1,000 acupuncture experts from over 40 countries attended the symposium to exchange their latest findings in acupuncture therapy and research. "Acupuncture is now an unshakable part of our medicine," ICMART President Walburg Maric said.

Dried leaves of the climbing "miracle herb" Gynostemma pentaphyllum growing in tropical Xishuangbanna of Yunnan, Southwest China. This herb is a well known ingredient of Chinese traditional medicine used for a variety of reasons that keep people in good health condition especially when getting older.

Its usages include prevention of growth of cancer and of high blood fat and arteriosclerosis, cure of bronchial asthma and hepatitis, strengthening of the body and prevention of senility. Its taste is sweet and aromatic, and it can be taken either as tea or in alcohol. A rare exception of a herb that combines a set of uses that keep you physiologically young.

The province of Yunnan and especially its Southern tropical area abounds in biodiversity and ethnic communities with a rich tradition of making use of the properties of herbal medicine. This is also the birth place of the thousands of years old Puer tea. Puer, a small town of Xishuangbanna, produces this brand and the tea roads, on which the tea was brought into neighboring countries, had been as famous as the silk roads.

The tea tree is still growing in the mountain forests of Xishuangbanna. Some trees have reached Babylonian age and are attracting visitors.

Aini woman in her medical garden

Qi Gong is a term that describes a very complex and diverse tradition of spiritual, martial and health exercises from China. Qi Gong is a modern term that was used by the current Chinese government to catagorize over 1,500 different styles of these exercises into a meaningful context. Qi Gong was originally described in the earliest texts as Tuna, or breath exercises, and Dao Yin, or exercise postures. It was also used in Taoism as a way of attempting physical and spiritual immortality.

In the Daoist tradition, which forms the foundation of the traditional Oriental healing and health-promoting arts, there are said to be Three Treasures that in effect constitute our life. These are known as jing, qi (pronounced "chee") and shen. The ultimate goal of all of the Oriental healing and health-promoting arts is to cultivate, balance and expand the Three Treasures. At the highest level of the Oriental healing arts, the practitioner is attempting to harmonize all aspects of one's being. This is accomplished by focusing one's attention on the Three Treasures. There are no exact translations for the terms jing, qi and shen into English. They are generally translated, though, as essence, vitality and spirit.

Huangdi Neijing, also known as Inner Canon of Huangdi or Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor is the most early extant theory work for Traditional Chinese medicine. The book is about finished in Warring States Period.

It is the seminal medical text of ancient China. The theoretical foundations for Chinese Medicine are systematically covered. The work is composed of two texts each of eighty one chapters or treatises in a question and answer format between the mythical Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) and his ministers.

In China as elsewhere, alchemy is a doctrine aiming to afford an understanding of the principles underlying the formation and functioning of the cosmos. The alchemist rises through the hierarchy of the constituents of being by "exhausting" (Chin. jin or liao, two words also denoting "thorough knowledge") the nature and properties of each stage. He overcomes the limits of individuality, and ascends to higher states of being; he becomes, in Chinese terms, a zhenren or Authentic Man.

The resources of Chinese materia medica refer to the total reserves of the plant, animal and mineral resources that can be used as materia medica (including those used by minority nationalities and by folk healers). They have the following characteristics:

Regional features: There is inseparable relationship between the resources of Chinese materia medica and the natural environment in which they are distributed. The variety of Chinese materia medica and their quantity and quality are controlled by the natural conditions of the region.

The Yin Yang theory holds that all phenomena consist of two opposite aspects, yin and yang, which are variously defined as: up and down, left and right, light and dark, hot and cold, stillness and movement, substance and function, etc.