Ai Handan, a popular Dai medical pharmacist, trains local practitioners to select and cultivate natural herds. (Photo / CGTN)
Ai Handan works at China's only Dai ethnic hospital, located in Jinghong, in Xishuangbanna. He is responsible for training grass-roots level doctors, like Bo Hanyan. As a veteran practitioner, Ai says traditional Dai medicine employs more than 2,000 types of botanicals, but now, due to increased human activities like rubber and banana plantations, over 300 have become endangered species.
For Ai Handan, the most urgent matter is engaging more qualified young people to inherit the legacy of Dai medicine. For him, they are the ultimate force to bring tradition closer to modern requirements.
