Tianjiang China Trip 2019

With generous sponsorship from Tianjiang, Treasure of the East and New York College of TCM led a delegation of 28 TCM practitioners and students to visit China, from the 22nd to the 30th of September. The 10-day trip was packed full of hospital rotations, a tour of Tianjiang, a visit to an herb farm, and sightseeing opportunities across Shanghai, Su Zhou, and Hang Zhou.

The trip started with lectures from leading doctors, researchers, and academics at two of Shanghai's most prestigious teaching Hospitals: Shugang Hospital and Yueyang Hospital.

The lectures covered cutting-edge TCM topics such as advancements in the treatment of heart diseases, Chinese herbs for gynecological diseases, acupuncture anesthesia, and Tui Na in clinical practice. All lectures were given in Chinese with professional simultaneous translation to English (note the headsets worn by many of the participants).

Each morning of lectures was followed by small-group rotations through various wings of the hospital and live demonstrations with some members of our group!

The group also visited the hospital pharmacies, where Tianjiang herbs are dispensed by prescription.

With so many dedicated healthcare providers in the group, the Shanghai hospital visits proved to be not only a great learning experience but tremendous fun too!

The next stop was a tour of Tianjiang's renowned production facilities. Tianjiang is the world’s largest producer of granule herbs and is located along the Yangtze River, in the Jiangyin High Technology Zone, about two hours from Shanghai.

In this photo, we can see the stylish attire they were provided for visits to the production areas.

Here’s a view of the control room for the first extraction process.

Tianjiang is proud of the modernity and quality control that their facilities provide, and anyone who has toured them can tell you why! The amount of research and testing constantly taking place in their laboratories can be a little overwhelming, but it's the best way to ensure the unmatched quality these practitioners have come to expect.

Tianjiang is very well known for its CNAS and ISO certified laboratories, where experiments are conducted to identify optimal processing parameters to maximize potency, purity, and safety.

Processing is only half the story with herbal granules. Tianjiang's guests had a chance to see the other half with a trip to one of their farms in nearby Dongxing village. This farm is just one of over 300 farms across 22 provinces that directly supplies Tianjiang with raw herbs that meet its exacting standards.

Mr. Tang Bo, Director of Medical Materials at Tianjiang, showed the practitioners around the fields of a Xiang Yuan (Citron) farm that supplies raw ingredients for what eventually becomes Treasure of the East herbs, and shared his expertise on how to identify many herbs used in Chinese medicine.

Tianjiang's cultivation and processing facilities weren't the only attraction. Trips like this are the ultimate chance for information to be shared between practitioners who might normally never have the chance to interact.

After the technical programming, the group embarked on cultural studies, including sightseeing in Su Zhou’s Lingering Garden, Xitang Water Village, and Hangzhou’s West Lake. The group had guided and unguided time to explore and take pictures. Say cheese!

Of course, no visit to China is complete without a banquet and many rounds of cheers with the hosts. Gan bei!

While this year's trip has drawn to a close, we hope that all participants will have memories that last a lifetime. We would be remiss to fail to mention how honored we are to be a part of a community so focused on education and on cultural exchange. Without the enthusiastic and dedicated participants, none of this would have been possible. As such, we here at Treasure of the East want to give a massive thank you to everyone who expressed interest and helped us offer this trip.