The 3rd International Chinese Health Care and Chinese Medicine Seminar was held in Stellenbosch University near Cape Town on Saturday, receiving warm response.
Four Chinese medicine practitioners from Guangdong University of Chinese Medicine gave presentations on how traditional Chinese medicine deals with coughing, hypertension, neck pain, headache, insomnia, and skin ailments like eczema, wart and psoriasis.
Some volunteers experienced treatment of acupunture, red-hot needle therapy and massage during the seminar.
The seminar was hosted by the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and co-organized by Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University and South African Association of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture (SAACMA).
In his opening address, Kang Yong, consul general of the Chinese Consulate in Cape Town, said Chinese medicine advocates prevention, is eco-friendly and gaining more acceptance globally.
He expressed the hope that China and South Africa would pool resources and enhance coordination to advance traditional medicine around the world.
SAACMA Chair Rubin Rhode said South Africa and China both have long history of traditional medicine and that the seminar would deepen South African Chinese medicine practitioners' understanding of China.
Robert Kotze, co-director of the Confucius Institute at Stellenbosch University, said the seminar broadened local medical students' horizons and provided them with an alternative perspective different from Western medicine.
