TCM Spas provide a holistic spa experience
Spas are hiring registered Chinese medicine practitioners to take advantage of growing interest in traditional forms of treatment
Hongkongers are no strangers to either traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or spas. Now the two are being brought together under one roof.
TCM is based on balancing yin and yang, increasing the flow of chi, and restoring vitality to the patient. A number of methods are used, such as Chinese herbal medicine, qigong, tui na massage, acupuncture, acupressure, scraping (gua sha), cupping and bone-setting.
"The therapists have to be skilled in everything the spa does, but you get watered-down kinds of treatments, so the way around this is to get a specialist TCM consultant."
There are more than 6,500 registered TCM practitioners in the city, says the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong. TCM spas offer another way to tap into these methods.
Chuan Spa at Langham Place dedicates itself to TCM. The idea when it launched in 2005 was to provide a different kind of TCM experience. "When the brand was developed, they were looking at a holistic spa experience, with a five-star environment to experience it in," says Victoria Childs, spa director.
The Mandarin Oriental also uses a TCM doctor for guests to consult, and the therapies have been "meticulously researched in consultation with experienced Chinese doctors, chemists and holistic practitioners" says Yumi Kwan, treatments manager.