Traditional Chinese Medicine and healthcare to boost Hainan tourism

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

At the Boao Yiling Life Care Center of Hainan, a clean odor of herbal medicine spreads through the warm tropical air. Cool white walls compared to the green jade carvings on elegant mahogany furniture. A seated elderly patient practices calligraphy, overlooked by a silk scroll painting of the sage Confucius.

“We believe that good, overall health is not just physical, but also mental and spiritual,” says the center’s marketing manager Li Lijun.

“Calligraphy has been practiced as a form of contemplation since ancient times. To add to patients’ regular therapy, our masters here are on hand to show them how.”

Overall, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and healthcare are part of an initiation to develop tourism in Hainan. By capitalizing on encouraging government policies and strategies, its tropical climate and unique cultural heritage, the southernmost province of China is building itself into a leading destination for international travelers.

The Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone – inland from the white sands and coconut palms of Hainan’s southeast city of Boao – is heading the campaign. Since 2013, preferential policies have prompted the development of a 20-square-kilometer development area there, straddling the clear river Wanquan.

In that zone, new drugs and technologies are not yet allowed by China, as long as they are allowed in the US or Europe. Stem cell research can be performed, jointly with other advanced fields that are usually heavily constrained in China. Foreigners can develop majority-owned businesses. And permission is not required to hold large, international conferences.

In the zone till date, twenty-seven projects have been initiated, with a third completed so far. Three are functional by now. Among them is the Yiling Life Care Center; a swanky, five-star hospital devoted to TCM.

In the hospital’s initial consultation area, Director of International Cooperation Liu Jialin mentions TCM’s enduring and extensive appeal.

“If the practice of TCM has flourished for thousands of years, that’s no doubt because of the culture that surrounds it,” he says.

“Our consultation area is set out in the traditional way to embody that culture. International guests love the experience.”

« Back to Page

• Sanya becoming next-gen shopping destination after Dubai

• Sanya, China: Pioneering a diverse cultural tourism ecosystem

• Hainan, China’s tourist resort, sees phenomenal boom during Spring Festival

• Hainan to develop horse racing without betting

• Hainan to build a scenic highway around the main island this year