For 100 years, a unique and open culture of TCM flourished in
Shanghai, welcoming and adapting schools from around the
country, as well as western medicine. Doctors even shared once
jealously guarded family prescriptions, reports Tan Weiyun. Like
Shanghai itself and its cosmopolitan haipai (Shanghai style),
the traditional Chinese medicine that took root and flourished
in the city for around 100 years is notable for its
practitioners' open mind and their willingness to embrace, adapt
to many styles of both TCM and Western medicine. To recognize
the city's unique TCM heritage, the municipal government has a
two- to three-year plan to renovate and reopen 15 historic
sites, such as the residences of masters, old pharmacies and
compounding workshops. The aim is to promote Shanghai's special,
eclectic healing traditions. "Shanghai TCM is unique in
combining not only a wide variety of medical styles from around
China but also opening its doors to Western medicine since the
middle of 19th century," says Yan Shiyun,