Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (LNUTCM) in Shenyang, North East China is one of the most important teaching and research universities in China in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It has 18 faculties including an affiliated teaching hospital. NZSATCM already has an exclusive relationship with the Affiliated TCM Hospital of Liaoning University.

LNUTCM celebrated its 50^th anniversary from September 23-28 this year and invited dignitaries and acupuncture colleges from around the globe to participate in this proud event. A personal invitation was extended to our Director Adejola Olatunji in recognition of his achievements in TCM in New Zealand and our recent achievement of being accredited to deliver the only Bachelor Degree of acupuncture in New Zealand.

It was on their urging that we accepted this prestigious invitation to celebrate and further our connections, this time with the University. The interest the University has in the international teaching of TCM was remarkable and Olatunji was invited to present to their students a diagnostic class so they could sample the teaching style of New Zealand.

This was so well received that we anticipate future collaboration and teacher exchanges on top of our existing agreement allowing students and teachers to gain further clinical experience from their hospital senior clinicians, a facility usually only available to MA and PhD candidates. Liaoning University’s motto is “To be the best, not the biggest” closely relates to the vision of NZSATCM.

The celebration was a fantastic affair of banquets, conferences, and seminars over the five days of the celebration. Each day of the visit guests were hosted at different locations around the city. The usual pattern was to finish breakfast by 8:30am, be transported to the celebration venue by 9.00am, back to the hotel for a three hour rest period, to prepare for the evening banquet, another three to four hour event. The hospitality was second to none.

The many events allowed Olatunji to meet and discuss issues with many of the hosts and distinguished guests attending the celebration such as LNUTCM’s President and Vice-president, the Party Secretary's of the university and hospital, the Vice-president of LNUTCM International Exchange and Cooperation Department, the President and senior doctors from the Affiliated Hospital of LNUTCM, the directors or principals of TCM colleges and universities from Nanjing, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, USA and Germany.

In spite of the hectic schedule the President and state administration of Liaoning University engaged in meaningful talks about extending our exclusive relationship with the University itself. The future is looking very bright indeed for our students and teachers wishing to pursue further education at LNUTCM.  Consolidating the agreement and exchanging personal gifts in a meeting with Dr Yang, president of the Affiliated Hospital of LNUTCM served to strengthen our aim for closer affiliations.

The bringing together of so many nations teaching TCM, was a gift in itself, allowing for meaningful discussions between principals of TCM colleges from Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, USA, Australia. We were able to freely explore concepts of teacher exchanges, research, statistics, teaching methods, etc.

The hospitality included a pleasant day on an underground river trip with a German Mayor. He was specifically there to set up a TCM hospital and water works in Bad Orb, a small town 24 kilometres east of Frankfurt. Olatunji said “that his promise to share the experiences of setting up this hospital is of particular interest to me as this is something I have long thought could be of benefit to our country”.

To conclude Olatunji said that he would like to take the opportunity to thank Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning University of TCM for bringing together so many like minded people, to continue the further development and teaching of TCM in China and abroad.