Economy

Tourism, Rx for the rich

By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-04 09:52
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Tourism, Rx for the rich

Patients from Russia are treated with traditional acupuncture, tuina massage and fire cupping at No 2 Affiliated Hospital at Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. The hospital treated more than 300 foreign patients last year, 80 percent of them from Russia. [Photo / Xinhua] 

Wang Ling, a 32-year-old housewife in Beijing, will soon set out on her special trip to Switzerland for sightseeing - and anti-aging sheep placenta therapy. The 10-day trip will cost her about 300,000 yuan ($46,300).

"I got to know about such trips from my health consultant at Ciming Health Checkup Center, and I am quite happy with the idea of combining tourism with the famed beauty treatment," she said.

As the Chinese get rich, many have moved from spree-buying luxury goods to paying more attention to their health, and they are willing to spend big on health preservation, according to Hu Bo, chairman of Ciming Health Checkup Management Group Co Ltd.

Wang, will be following the 200 or so clients of Ciming, a health examination chain with more than 30 outlets across the country, who traveled abroad for high-quality medical care last year. "The number has been constantly rising in recent years," Hu said.

His organization recommends such trips for clients and helps handle procedures such as visa applications and booking services at the destination. Some clients travel on their own initiative and some receive the trips as gifts, Hu said.

Destinations popular with the Chinese, besides Switzerland, include South Korea for cosmetic surgery, Hong Kong and the United States for childbirth, and Germany for general health checkups, with special attention to cancer.

A seven- to 10-day stay generally costs 300,000 to 500,000 yuan ($46,269 to $77,115), including first-class airfare, accommodations and health services.

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"Actually, such health services especially the health preservation therapies, can also be obtained within the country and probably at a much lower price," said Xu Shuo, secretary-general of the Beijing Medical Doctor Association. "But the rich still would like to pay heavily, seeking better services abroad, largely at hot tourism destinations."

Some patients also travel to other countries for cutting-edge and high-quality medical services such as cancer treatment and some operations that domestic hospitals cannot provide, he said.

For example, in 2008 China's top hurdler, Liu Xiang, went to the US for an operation on his Achilles tendon, although Xu said such surgery is widely available in China.

"Our technology and clinical practice about that are up to international standards," Xu said, "but matching services and capacity like post-operative recovery and follow-ups lag far behind."

Besides, Hu said, foreign healthcare providers are better at promoting their programs among the target customers in China.

Switzerland, for example, has successfully branded itself as the top provider of the trademark anti-aging therapy using sheep placentas. It lures tens of thousands of customers from abroad, although Hu said few Swiss would go for the therapy.

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