The Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Beijing has become a new tourism attraction for foreign tourists. Last week, it opened two research and study classes for 55 Japanese students and received 4 tourism delegations from Europe and Latin America. The group of French tourists who also visited the hospital last week consisted of 92 people.
Everything in the hospital was new to those foreign tourists. They were especially surprised to see the tools and ways doctors use to cure patients. One tourist who had a stiff neck and was restricted from activities asked to try acupuncture. He recovered in a short period of time after the doctor used acupuncture on his hand instead of his neck that surprised all the tourists around him. They could not help taking pictures in the room of Chinese medicines after they saw the doctors change ordinary grass, tree skins and flowers into medicine, which can be used to cure diseases.
According to the person in charge of tourism of the hospital, there are usually two or three groups of tourists come to visit the hospital every week after it became a tourism attraction. It has trained more than 1,500 students from more than 30 countries to study Chinese medicine and acupuncture. The Beijing Training Center of Acupuncture has received a number of people from many countries.
(Beijing Daily Group 04/03/2001)
