Qigong, traditional medicine and a determination to smile are factors helping

SEVEN days after his wedding in the spring of 1981 in Shanghai, Yuan Zhengping moved from his wedding chamber to a hospital ward when he developed a high fever. A doctor told him he had a malignant tumour of the lymph nodes in an advanced stage and would live no longer than one year. Mr Yuan was 31.

He received repeated radiation treatment and could not eat or sleep. 'All the patients around me died,' said Mr Yuan, a union worker. 'I believed if I still stayed, I would follow them, so I demanded to leave.' When he got home, he tore into pieces the red wedding poster with the big character 'happiness'. In despair he read a book, Cancer Does Not Mean Death, and in it he learned about Guo Lin, who suffered womb cancer when she was 59. She practised qigong - the Chinese form of exercise that channels inner energy to improve physical and spiritual health - she had learned from her grandfather, and created a new method combining meditation and active movement. Through many years of practise, she had kept the disease under control.

Mr Yuan immediately flew to Beijing to learn from Ms Guo. At first his legs would tremble after standing for five minutes, but gradually he could stand for four hours. His appetite grew, his sleep improved, and he became strong. He survived beyond the five-year remission period.

'There's no new tumour,' Mr Yuan said. 'My cancer cells are living in harmony with my immune system now.' However, Western medical practitioners are doubtful whether radiotherapy or qigong saved Mr Yuan.

'Many cancer patients like Mr Yuan had radiation treatment before they practised qigong or took Chinese medicine so we don't really know which of the three elements helped them recover,' said Dr Raymond Liang Hin-suen, head of University of Hong Kong's haematology/oncology division.

After his recovery in 1987, Mr Yuan began to teach other cancer patients Guo Lin Qigong, which is another school of qigong different from Falun Gong. The movements and techniques of the two schools are styled after their founders.