Kick start your way to health with…..

PREVENTATIVE HEALTH PRACTICES USING CHINESE MEDICINE

Alex Tan offers a unique Blend of Eastern Medicine with a Western Perspective

TCM Food Energetics (Not offered this month)

Eat Well & Stay Healthy 24th July & 14th August

The Benefits of Breathwork 31st July & 21st August

Intro to the Chinese Herbs 20th July & 7th August

Eat, Sleep, Breath 26th June

Traditional Chinese medicine Clinic open 4 days a week for Chinese Medicine and related treatments.

Other Healthy Habits programs include

Qi Gong in Tues nights with Alex Tan

Kung Fu in Sat afternoon   with Marco Lee

Himalayan Yoga

Tai Chi Thu nights  with Eric Liu

Alex Tan offers a range of workshops to promote healthy living in Beijing.

These health programs are designed to allow you to immerse yourself in a new perspective of health and learning.
They seek to empower people through the learning of preventative health information and practices that allow a better understanding of the relationship between our environment, lifestyle and health.
The aim is to help you discover the transformative powers of Eastern Health practices for restoring and maintaining balance, health and happiness.

Alex has also set up his Traditional Chinese medicine Clinic to The Hutong

In this half hour discussion we hope to lift the veil on some of the ideas and philosophy behind Asian health and lifestyle practices. We will investigate how such different models of health and medicine developed in the east and west. How can we use both eastern and western ideas to improve our health and how to incorporate these into our daily lives? The focus is on leaving you with the motivation to use this knowledge in a practical and useful way.

Cost: Free

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to Register

How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle in Beijing

Developing Healthy Habits Using Traditional Chinese Wisdom

Five Session course

In this five-session program we aim to help you to lift the veil on some of the ideas and philosophy behind Asian health and lifestyle practices. The goal of this 5-session program is to incorporate preventative Chinese medicine into your daily life for restoring and maintaining energy, being more efficient at work and dealing more positively with life’s challenges.

More information

To breathe is to live. We can survive for weeks without food, for days without water, but only minutes without breath. Breathing is a master key to the self-healing. We will explore the dynamics and methods of breathing well from both an ancient Eastern and modern medicine point of view.

The benefits of breathwork include: centering the mind, being more efficient at work, dealing more positively with life’s challenges – and the best part is that it is easy to do, requires very little time and is literally right under your nose. Come along and learn why if you do a second more of breath-work today than you did yesterday you will have made spiritual progress.

Cost: 100rmb

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to register

Eat Well & Stay Healthy the Traditional Chinese Way

What, when and how you eat flows into every part of your life. In the East, food is described as possessing certain qualities such as a warming or cooling nature, possessing certain flavours or acting on the body in a certain way. The nutritional value of a food is stated as a set of energetic properties, which describe the actions a food has on the human body. Learn about these basic principles of a healthy diet including, energies of foods, flavors and directions of foods and how to eat with the seasons according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Cost: 100rmb for  1½ hour discussion

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Qi Gong means both ‘breathing exercise’ and ‘energy control’. Qi is a Chinese word, which has no direct English translation, but it roughly equates with the concept of ‘energy’ in the New Physics sense of the word. The Chinese word Gong translates as ‘work’ or ‘discipline’ or something that takes your full attention – so Qi Gong is a form of attentive ‘Qi work’.

In this class, there are no strict rules, no strict master, nor any attendance requirements. The aim of the class is to give people flexibility and the opportunity to experience and practice Qi Gong on their own terms, in an effort to make Qi Gong practice more accessible to those who are interested.

Every Tuesday  6 – 7pm

Cost: 60rmb

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

In this introduction to Chinese herbs we will examine a brief history of herbal medicine and the development of herbal theory, tastes, actions and more. We will also look at how a herbal prescription is formulated with the Emperor, minister, assistant and envoy.
Finally, we explore the different formulations available and learn how to identify common ‘patterns’ for colds and flu in order to buy the most suitable patent medicines from the local pharmacy.

Cost: 100rmb

Teacher: Alex Tan – qualified TCM practitioner & educator

Click here to register

The perfect tour for friends or family, (young or old) visiting Beijing to really witness first hand and feel the essence of morning exercise and ancient Chinese health preservation exercises. Take a guided tour with Alex Tan who has a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has been practicing Qi Gong for more than ten years.

Total – 90 minutes – 7am-8.30am (flexible)

Includes

• Guide – qualified TCM practitioner who specialises in preventive health – fluent in English with Asian heritage
• Entrance Fee
• Guided tour with history & explanations of the Temple of Earth (di tan)
• Explanations of exercises & benefits according to Chinese medical theory
• History of morning exercise and the Chinese body clock, and how to take advantage of cosmic cycles for better health and wellbeing (2 page handout incl.)
• Qi Gong class – 30 minutes

More information

Gain self-defence skills in the style of Bruce Lee of  learn to fight like the man himself!

Master of kung fu, Marco Lee specialises in the form of Wing Chun Kung Fu, made famous by the legendary Bruce Lee. These classes are for those who want to learn self-defence and those keen to develop martial art skills and learn this Kung Fu form in its entirety.

There are many kinds of schools of Yoga. Each has its way to make our mind calm: hard physical work, breathing techniques, different body postures. Himalayan Yoga is one of the most ancient systems, merging the most important techniques of all schools. The roots are coming from Shamanism, Buddhist and Taoist techniques.

Learn some ancient martial arts routines on a Hutong Rooftop. The workshop is designed to take people from a non-martial arts background into easy to follow defensive techniques and fitness. Highly acclaimed Jiangsu prodigy, Master Zhu brings his expertise to Beijing to share with students.

John celebrating the conclusion of his ride

Get out of the car and take a ride around Beijing on a bike.  You’ll see the world differently.

Learn some ancient martial arts routines on a Hutong Rooftop.
Come and join us for this 22-moves Chen Style Tai Chi at The Hutong to strengthen your mind and your body and to experience the culture through this type of Kungfu.

Tai Chi Class With Eric Liu

Tuesday evening 7 – 8:30 pm

Thursday mornings 10 – 11:30

Straight Bamboo TCM Clinic is open at the Hutong 4 days a week for Chinese Medicine and related treatments

A Unique Blend of Eastern Medicine with a Western Perspective

Focus

• Comfortable, private surroundings
• Individualised and personal treatment with a focus on holistic health, effective communication & information for English speakers
• Treatment and assistance designed to help you understand your imbalance and what you can do about it using Chinese medicine dietary therapy, Qigong, positive psychology and daily rhythms

Services

• Acupressure, Moxibustion, Cupping, Gua-sha & Massage

These are all TCM techniques to influence the balance of yin and yang and the flow of Qi in the body’s meridian system

• Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese herbs can be used to enhance the body’s function – available in raw and patent forms for maximum convenience

• Lifestyle Consultation

How to gain greater health & happiness using ancient Chinese health knowledge – for people who want to increase health awareness and discover balance through positive interventions

• Qi Gong

One-to-one training in the 8 Golden Treasures, a set of ancient Daoist exercises coordinated with breathing methods designed specifically to increase resilience and resistance to disease

More information

Celebrate the seasonal change with The Hutong  and get ready for a spring clean for body and mind!

On Sunday the 18th April we will host a spring fayre to help you get a healthy kick start for the warmer months ahead.

Look forward to; cooking demonstrations using new seasonal organic produce, health talks from our resident TCM practioner Alex Tan and tea guru Joel Shuchat, along with a host of organic stalls and home-made produce on offer from local companies and groups. We will also a provide a ’swap shop’ for Beijingers to bring in unwanted items such as clothes and DVDs. Any left over items will given to Roundabout charity distibution store.

The fayre will open from 1pm – 4pm , entrance is free

Expect to see …. Food Affaire – cooking demonstration, Fairtrade products from Shangrila Far, Health Products from World Health Store, Organic cheeses from Yellow Valley Cheese

*** Note that this list is still being updated

Shangrila Farm: “Shangrila Farms works with co-ops of coffee farmers in Yunnan China to create new markets for their coffee products and promote environmentally friendly farming practices. As a fair trade organization, Shangrila Farms helps these farmers get fair market prices for their coffee and donates a portions of their profits to help support local villages.” source Avantage Ventures

Food Affaire: “This deli, nestled in the Xingfu Ercun Aprils Gourmet, serves up a wide variety of international cuisine. The pre-packaged section can include anything from tomato and mozzarella salad to slices of goose liver pate. The deli counter features a dozen dishes like roasted beef, poached salmon, pasta salad or the especially tasty Greek rice, all priced by weight. The freshly prepared salads and sandwiches round out a great option for a quick grab-and-go meal” – source City Weekend

Yellow Valley: “ Yellow Valley™ Cheeses are hand-made Dutch Gouda farmhouse cheeses produced in China. We are the first company to make Gouda cheeses in an artisanal and natural (organic) way” source Cheese In China

Roundabout: “An opportunity for your philanthropic and consumerist sides to meet in the middle. This non-profit group takes in donated goods, sells a few of them to pay for transportation costs, and delivers the rest to people in need, in the process supporting 27 local charities. Shop for knick-knacks, volunteer or donate.” source City Weekend

Alex Tan: “Alex has a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has practiced Qi Gong for more than ten years. With a passion for preventative health practices, Alex travelled to China where he has been living, travelling, studying and working for the past few years. Alex believes the true treasures of TCM lie in its greater focus on preventative health, wellness and lifestyle practices and less about ‘reactive’, clinical medicine. The key focus of this approach is about learning how we can live in accordance with nature to avoid illness and disease. His aim is to help you discover the transformative powers of Eastern Health practices for restoring and maintaining balance, health and happiness.”

Joel Shuchat: “ Joel’s pre-Beijing life includes his training in the culinary arts back in Montreal, Canada. After that,  a long voyage through Asia with the primary goal of eating finally came to an end in Beijing. A dangerous focus on food lead to a great access for language study, which paved the way for a great new complementary obsession: Chinese tea.  He now sources the best of the best Chinese teas for his company Anjing Teas. Five years later, the food, tea and language all mix for an important foundation of Joel’s involvement at the Hutong. Here he is responsible for leading numerous tea-arts learning and tea touring programs, as well as various cooking classes and catering for events at the Hutong.  When Joel isn’t at home cooking, he is most certainly serving tea and cooking at the Hutong.”