Meridian Matters: Traditional Chinese Medicine with Ji Xiaoping

After struggling often with illness as a child and being saved by Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments many times, Ji Xiaoping grew up to become one of the first students to be awarded a masters degree in TCM, and has now been a TCM doctor for more than 40 years. He has practiced TCM therapy in Japan, the USA, Russia and Germany, and is now one of the expert doctors staffing high-end TCM clinic The Meridian, in the Lido area.

What’s special about The Meridian clinic?
The clinic has access to the best TCM experts in Beijing and even throughout the whole country – the true authorities in the field. The core medical treatment at The Meridian is meridian therapy, which is the soul of Chinese medicine. We offer all treatments on the basis of our own careful diagnosis, which allows us to provide customized personal treatments for each individual guest based on their health conditions, requirements and goals.

What is the “meridian”?
The “meridians” we’re concerned with are neither part of the nervous system nor the vascular or lymphatic system. They are not visible and cannot be explained by anatomical analysis. But it has been known and repeatedly proven to be a significant element of human health throughout the past 3,000 years of Chinese history. Meridians are like channels of energy in a person’s body that connect the internal organs. If meridians work smoothly, then the person is healthy. If not, the person will be ill or at least not as healthy as they should be.

What kind of people can benefit most from these treatments?
These treatments have very positive tangible benefits for people who suffer from sub-optimal health. Conditioning one’s meridians can help many problems, including sleep disorders, lack of appetite, insomnia, violent or distressing dreams, anxiety and stress. We believe that meridian conditioning can help reverse sub-optimal health before problems develop to the point of degenerative diseases. These treatments also yield significant benefits for women in particular who, due to the pressures of contemporary society, are demanding more independence than before, but are also more exhausted than ever. A happy result of these therapies is that meridian conditioning can also help women look young, maintain their figure and have better skin.

How are electrical currents used in the meridian treatments?
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, when meridians are blocked or disrupted, doctors can clear the meridians through various methods such as acupuncture and tuina massage to help the qi to flow smoothly again. We use electricity to imitate the biological currents, and thus clear up the blockages or disruptions. Although using electricity we employ a modern technological machine, it is really the same therapeutic ideology.

Aside from meridian cleansing treatments, what other therapies does the clinic offer?
We have eight main therapies designed for meridian conditioning and administered by experienced therapists, including traditional acupuncture, bian stone therapy and tuina massage. Our spinal massage therapy is very helpful for spine, neck and waist abrasions. Also our herbal medicine baths – which brew a mixture of more than 30 medicines for over four hours – is beneficial for people who suffer from anxiety, depression, endocrine disorders, high blood pressure and various gynecological illnesses.

The Meridian
Daily 10am-11pm. 9-10-A, Si’de Park, Fangyuan Xilu, Dongsihuan, Chaoyang District. (8456 7010) 明经堂，朝阳区东四环芳园西路四得公园9-10-A