Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been gaining popularity in recent years, especially in China's neighboring country Russia. Every year, thousands of Russian youngsters come to Beijing to study this ancient science. Kamila Lusina is one of them. Now she is studying for a doctor's degree of Acupuncture in Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. She tells us why she is so keenly interested in a type of medicine that is so totally different from her own.

Lusina is now a student of acupuncture and moxibustion. Her mother, a reflexologist, has had great influence on her decision. At the age of 15, Lusina entered a university in Moscow to study medicine. After graduation she decided to continue her study in China.

"For us, the most difficult thing is to understand Chinese medicine's unique philosophy and practices with regard to therapy and recovery," Lusina said. "For practitioners of the western medical system, it is extremely important to understand the diversified needle inserting techniques and relative symptoms."

According to Lusina, Russian people have stopped regarding acupuncture and moxibustion as mysterious or frightening. More and more people are opting to receive such effective and painless treatment.

Chinese medicine regards the human body as an organic whole, and its major purpose is to help kickstart the body's natural ability to heal itself.

In the past decade, nearly a thousand people come to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine to study every year. Professor Li Zhigang, a clinician of over 20 years, tells of how effective acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medical treatments are.

"So far, 160 countries and regions utilize acupuncture and moxibustion treatments," Li said. "These methods have been proven to cure more than 600 diseases. In the 1980s, the World Health Organization suggested doctors use acupuncture to cure 43 different ailments."

Acupuncture and moxibustion were just added to the World Cultural Heritage list at UNESCO's 5th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nairobi, Kenya.

(CNTV.cn November 22, 2010)