Diana Xu, a 33-year-old female IT worker in Beijing, is always keeping an eye on her health. She has a physical examination every six months at a large Chinese public hospital that uses high-tech and cutting-edge medical technology.
However, her recent checkup in October was different. No machines were used throughout the entire process. It was only Xu and her doctor, and she was more satisfied than ever before, she said.
This time around, Xu chose to have a physical checkup in a Beijing hospital that specializes in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A main difference between Western medical treatment and TCM is the personalization that TCM offers the client.
"When I was in large Chinese hospital [that offers Western medical treatment], I queue for a long time and I am rushed through each procedure. Everyone goes through the same process just to get a result," she said. "The doctors do not even look at me."
The TCM checkup is much different. She said the doctor asked her many questions about almost every aspect of her life and made several pages of records. They took her pulse and checked her eyes, skin, teeth and tongue, and gave her a customized prescription.
Hu Hongyi, the vice president of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said in an October 25 report by news portal sohu.com that personalized TCM treatments and prescriptions are on the rise in China.
On the same day, the government issued a program themed Healthy China 2030, which gave blueprints and guidelines for the next 15 years in the medical and health industry in China. There is a chapter solely dedicated to TCM in the new program.
"The central idea is building on the special advantages of TCM to make it a more robust industry. We have to focus on personalization, diversification and more high-end and high-tech products," said Hu. "That's the way out for TCM."
Individualization is key
Xu used to get a lot of medicine and health products after every checkup, and most of them were Western-style treatments.
"I felt confused. If everyone is different, how do we end up using the same products to improve our health?" she said.
When Xu was purchasing garlic oil capsules in a drug store for a minor allergy problem, she met an old woman who was also told to use the same treatment for her eye problem.
However, after her personalized TCM physical checkup, she was given a TCM cream consisted of over 20 different kinds of herbs. It was made by steaming and boiling the herbs, and then adding maltose, honey and deer-horn glue to make it intense and tasty.
Xu said instead of giving her ready-made medicine, her doctor collected necessary herbs on the spot according to her body condition. For example, since she has problems with losing hair, the doctor added polygonum multiflorum. In addition, he added medlar since her eyes often feel tired.
According to Lin Xiao, a psychologist in Beijing, the more personalized the treatment, the more comforting it will be.
Lin said she often suggests that some clients, who do not suffer from serious mental conditions, should visit a TCM treatment institution to help them relax.
"With conditions such as minor depression, anxiety and insomnia, using an individualized treatment plan will have a strong comforting effect," she said. "They believe that the conversations and intimacy they have with the doctor can help make the TCM treatments more precise and effective."
High-end treatments
In addition to individualized treatment, TCM is also trying to make its way into the luxury sector of Chinese medicine by building famous brands and increasing the influence of TCM, said Shen Yong, manager of a Beijing-based marketing planning company that specializes in TCM, in a recent sohu.com report.
"There are many kinds of 'secret' TCM in China, which not every drug producer can make," he said.
Ding Kun Dan, a TCM that focuses on gynopathy is made by Guangyuyuan, a famous old brand in Shanxi Province. It uses an ancient prescription that was passed down from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was said that the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) used it and spoke highly of it. During a luxury product exhibition in Shanghai in 2014, Ding Kun Dan had its own stall next to Louis Vuitton and exhibited its products. Due to its fame, the TCM was sold for about 20 yuan ($2.95) per pill.
Shen said there are two kinds of TCM products in the health sector. One is medicine like Ding Kun Dan, the other is healthcare products.
"The most expensive TCM products are mostly healthcare products," he said. "They are luxury items in terms of prices and fame."
One big seller is the cordyceps sinensis pill in Qinghai Province. Last year, the annual sales volume for the pill reached 9 billion yuan, and it was sold at 12,000 yuan per 60 pills. In addition, a ginseng oral solution sold for 4,780 yuan per 10 bottles by Jiangzhong Jituan, a pharmaceuticals company in Jiangxi Province, and the ganoderma capsule from BY Health, a health product company in Guangdong Province, sold for 11,000 yuan per 60 pills, according to the sohu.com report.
"When it comes to expensive products, people are always interested to know its story and why the cost is higher," Shen said. "That gives us an excellent opportunity to let more people know about TCM and the brands, which greatly helps developing and carrying on TCM culture and the whole industry."
Take Ding Kun Dan for example, the method of production is traditional and time-consuming. Sometimes manpower is needed instead of machines for mass production, Shen said. In addition, the raw material is the main reason the product has a higher price. Ding Kun Dan's deer horn can only be the tenderest horn and the saffron must be from natural plants in the wild, which guarantees the effectiveness of the medicine.
Going global
Zhang Boli, head of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said in an October 24 report by Sichuan Daily that the market for TCM is optimistic internationally due to natural therapy being trendy in foreign countries.
According to Zhang, the next logical step for the TCM industry's development is going international, but there are still some obstacles.
Zhang said high-end and high-tech TCM is attractive to foreign consumers. But based on his conversation with his foreign friends and some foreign patients, he believes they are usually confused as to why different TCM doctors give them different prescriptions for one particular illness.
"TCM is more of a culture and an experience-oriented medicine," Zhang said. "We have to create a universal standard and an industry standard while maintaining the characteristics of personalization, which will make TCM's globalization easier in the future."
