(ECNS) — Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, treatments are gaining popularity among foreign visitors to Sanya, a resort city in southern China's Hainan province, as expanded visa-free access and increased international flights bring more overseas tourists to the island.
Kaissi Btissam, a Moroccan social media influencer, recently experienced tuina, a form of traditional Chinese therapeutic massage, at the Sanya International Friendship TCM Sanatorium.
It was her first time trying the treatment. Btissam said the practitioner needed only a few presses to pinpoint the source of her discomfort, adding that she felt much more relaxed afterward.
The sanatorium recorded about 10,000 visits by overseas patients and other international visitors in the first 10 months of this year, and expects the figure to exceed 15,000 for the full year, said Kou Zhixiong, the sanatorium's deputy director.
Anna, a Russian national who settled in Hainan after visiting the island, now works as a client relations manager at a TCM clinic in Sanya. "TCM wellness is a way of life," she said.
As interest grows, local providers are broadening their offerings beyond individual treatments to include services such as chronic disease management and wellness stays. They are also stepping up efforts to bring TCM services to international markets.
Sanya Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, one of China's first national bases for the export of TCM services, has established an international medical department and an international TCM diagnosis and treatment center to better serve overseas patients. The facilities offer multilingual services and more convenient payment options.
The hospital has also set up three overseas TCM centers in Almaty and Shymkent in Kazakhstan, and Halifax in Canada. In addition, it has developed five AI-powered international remote consultation platforms serving countries including France, Australia and Cabo Verde, and established partnerships with seven institutions in Russia, Canada, Portugal and other countries.
To support the expansion of TCM services overseas, the hospital offers short-term training programs for international practitioners. It is also exploring ways to integrate TCM with tourism, educational travel, medical aesthetics, medicinal cuisine and cultural products, while working with hotels to make wellness services more accessible to visitors.
Looking ahead, Kou said the sanatorium plans to develop a national-level TCM health and wellness center, a training base for TCM professionals, and a center for the exhibition and trading of TCM products. The initiatives are aimed at further expanding the international reach of Sanya's TCM services.
(By Zhang Dongfang)
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