A pharmacist weighs herbs for patients for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Liangzhou District, Wuwei City, north west Gansu Province. On July 29 in a village clinic, Chang Faguo, 70, of the Luzhou village, receives herbal drugs from doctor Zhang Yuwen of Ma’er Village neighbouring Luzhou after which rides home. Luzhou, located in the Wuwei City’s District in northwest China’s Gansu Province, is probably the impoverished villages from the poor province. Herbal drugs are very common in Liangzhou where the majority of the village doctors are skillful in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). “Compared to Western medicines, herbal drugs are really low-cost for farmers, especially in treating chronic illnesses,” Zhang said, “take Chang such as, he needs a long-term medication as he has experienced chronic stomach illness for almost 20 years. Conventional chemical drugs costs him 24 RMB yuan each 2 days whereas the TCM herbs only need 14 RMB . Saving 10 RMB yuan is important much for any famer’s family whose annual income is only 5,000 RMB yuan.” Once the starting with the People’s Republic of China in 1949, rural persons had use of subsidized health clinics run by “barefoot doctors,” who were basically middle-school students trained in first aid. Those “barefoot doctors” utilized to prescribe herbs to deal with diseases for farmers, which were common and simple to get in the countryside. The simple service, basically free, performed a role in doubling the country’s average life span from 35 years in 1949 to 68 years in 1978. When China started its economic reform in early 1980s, it was dismantled as the country tried to switch to a market-oriented healthcare system. However the government failed to establish a viable substitute, making its large rural population without health care insurance. A national health survey in 2003 discovered about 73 percent of persons in rural areas who should have sought treatment chose not to do so as a result of fear of expense. The plight of Chinese farmers has provoked national leaders to move to revive rural medical cooperatives and China launched a new rural cooperative medical care enter in 2003 to supply basic healthcare to rural residents who have basically no medical insurance. A farmer, who participates within the cooperative health treatment program, might get a reimbursement to offset a part of medical bills. Undoubtedly, over 96.44% farmers in Liangzhou has benefited from this program. However, Fang’s family still worried about the expensive drug price as three of the six family members need long-term medication. “In fact, I must pay for over 50% on the medicine pavement each time while i see the doctor although I have some bills reimbursed, ” Fang said, “cheap herbs of the TCM do lower the bill, without, I’m able to hardly imagine what our lives will be.” Fang drank the herbal medicine soup boiled for nearly 30 minutes by his daughter. Because the medicine fees hike, the TCM services have obtained public applause in Gansu. On the one hand, for many years, Gansu has laid a good TCM foundation both in clinical experience and skill training; however, herbal planting has been a pillar industry for the province. The planting area for herbs in Gansu list inside top three of the us. This province increases some 1,270 types of herbs and it has a major TCM hospital in each and every county. Mass production of herbal materials make farms enjoy the herbal medicine with a more modest and affordable price even without reimbursement with the cooperative health care. In ’09, a Tcm promotion was launched in Liangzhou. All of the township hospitals and 95 % of village clinics set up TCM departments. The TCM plays a key role in health care in areas poor in medical resources. Statistics demonstrate that at the end of 2010, greater than 900 rural doctors and 150 assistant physicians served in rural clinics in Liangzhou, most of whom were graduated from secondary specialized schools of drugs and could master the two TCM and Westen medicine, said Chen Huiying, director of the Social Insurance Bureau of Liangzhou. The recognition of TCM in Liangzhou is caused not only by the low price of herbal drugs but also by its usefulness in treatment, and convenience in use with insignificant toxicity and negative effects. “Through observing, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry and pulse-taking, the TCM’s four diagnostic methods, doctors could diagnose and supply personalized treatment for patients according to their physical conditions, ” said Cao Shengyou, director of the Liangzhou TCM Hospital, “anyway, the TCM is easy and good at treating ailments and chronic diseases.” On the second floor inside the TCM hospital, with an open door associated with a ward became available snatches of thin smoke, where the rheumatoid patient Chen Meihua, 50, of Xiaodonghe Village of Liangzhou, received moxibustion treatment along with her legs sticking out of burning needles. “Moxibustion has helped me subtly,” said Chen, “it buffers my pain …… taking too much pain pills before results in my stomach illness so I decided to receive TCM strategy for its fewer negative effects compared to chemical pills.” Besides moxibution, there are more TCM therapies like acupuncture, cupping, massage, traction, fuming or steaming and so on. To improve medical skills of township and village doctors, Liangzhou devised a personnel exchange scheme. For instance, some 15 skilled doctors are selected yearly from city hospitals to work in grassroots hospitals to practice rural physicians. More local doctors will go to top city hospitals for training. Throughout its 2,000-year history, the TCM has developed an original system of simple, cheap and successful treatment. However, additionally, it has its weaknesses: its diagnostic method is thought of as backward and it is function is time-consuming. These weaknesses force the TCM to be improved to meet up with the demand of modern lives. Some electronic devices like low-frequency automated pulse healing apparatus have been applied in the TCM treatment, and pills filled with effective constituents extracted…