Dai medical practitioners pick up rare herbs and botanicals in villages near Jinghong, Yunnan Province. (Photo/CGTN)
The Dai people live in the southern part of Yunnan Province, mainly in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, a subtropical area , with plentiful rainfall and fertile land. Dai medicine dates back to 2,500 years ago, and is based on the concept that the human body is made up of four basic elements: wind, fire, water and earth.
According to Dai medicine, illness occurs when the dynamic between these four elements becomes imbalanced. Back in 1983, Chinese government made Dai medicine a key ethnic legacy, and issued policies to boost its popularity.
However, many locals usually look to mainstream Western medicine first when they fall ill. Turning to Dai medicine is always a last option.
