Discover your TCM body constitution
Take the two-minute quiz, see how a TCM physician examines you, and add a constitution assessment at a public TCM hospital to your checkup trip. Or stay a few unhurried days in Kunming or Chongqing.
What's your TCM body constitution?
Sixteen quick questions, about two minutes. Think about how you have felt over the past year.
Based on the nine constitution types in the China Association of Chinese Medicine standard (2009), shortened for a quick self-check. It is not a diagnosis, and nothing you tick is stored or sent.
Balanced constitution
In TCM terms: steady energy, good sleep and appetite, and adapting easily to change.
- Keep regular hours for sleep and meals.
- Eat a varied diet that follows the seasons.
- Keep moving: walking, swimming or tai chi.
Qi-deficient constitution
Traditionally described as tiring easily, with lower stamina and a softer voice.
- Regular, unhurried meals; warm cooked food is traditionally preferred.
- Gentle exercise such as walking, tai chi or Baduanjin, rather than exhausting workouts.
- Enough sleep, and rest before you are worn out.
Yang-deficient constitution
Traditionally described as feeling the cold, with cold hands and feet.
- Keep warm, especially your feet, lower back and abdomen.
- Choose warm drinks and cooked food over iced drinks and lots of raw food.
- Get out in the daylight, and try a warm (not hot) foot soak in the evening.
Yin-deficient constitution
Traditionally described as running warm and dry, with warm palms and a dry mouth.
- Avoid late nights; aim to be asleep before 11 pm.
- Drink water through the day, and go easy on spicy and fried food and on alcohol.
- Calm exercise such as tai chi, yoga or swimming. Pears and lily bulb are traditional choices in Chinese cooking.
Phlegm-damp constitution
Traditionally described as feeling heavy and sluggish, often carrying weight around the middle.
- Lighter meals, with fewer sweet, greasy and rich foods.
- Regular exercise that makes you sweat a little.
- Avoid long naps straight after meals, and keep your home dry and aired.
Damp-heat constitution
Traditionally described as oily skin, a bitter taste in the mouth and feeling hot and sticky.
- Cut back on spicy, fried and sweet food and on alcohol.
- Plenty of vegetables and water.
- Regular exercise, and keep your skin clean and dry.
Blood-stasis constitution
Traditionally described as a dull complexion, dark circles and bruising easily.
- Keep moving, and avoid sitting for long stretches.
- Stay warm, especially in cold weather.
- Keep a regular routine for sleep and meals.
Bruising without a clear reason should be checked by a doctor.
Qi-stagnant constitution
Traditionally described as tending to feel low or tense, and sighing often.
- Spend time outdoors and with friends.
- Gentle, rhythmic exercise such as Baduanjin, walking or dancing.
- A regular routine for sleep and meals.
If you often feel low or anxious, or have trouble sleeping, please talk to a doctor first.
Inherited-special constitution
Traditionally used for people prone to allergies and sensitivities.
- Keep a note of what sets you off, by season and by food.
- Avoid the triggers you know about.
- If reactions are frequent or strong, ask a doctor about allergy testing.
A quick self-check, not a diagnosis. A full assessment by a TCM physician, in person, can differ. TCM sits alongside your usual medical care and does not replace it.
What is TCM?
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a system of health care with more than two thousand years of history. In China today it is taught at universities and practised by licensed physicians in public hospitals, often side by side with Western medicine.
Where a lab test measures single values, a TCM physician looks for patterns: how your sleep, digestion, energy, temperature and mood fit together. That pattern is described as your body constitution, and advice on food, rest and exercise follows from it.
Four ways a TCM physician examines you
Looking
Your complexion, posture and your tongue: its colour, coating and shape.
Listening and smelling
Your voice, your breathing, any cough, and the smell of your breath.
Asking
Sleep, appetite, digestion, how warm or cold you feel, mood and health history.
Feeling the pulse
The pulse at both wrists, noting its rhythm, depth and strength.
The nine body constitutions
From the China Association of Chinese Medicine standard, Classification and Determination of Constitution in TCM (2009). They describe tendencies, not illnesses, and most people are a mix.
A pause for body and mind
People come for different reasons. What they share is a few unhurried days, with a TCM physician's advice on sleep, food and daily routine.
When sleep has become harder
Work, screens, travel and stress can all get in the way of rest. A few quiet days give you room to build calmer evening habits.
A break from a busy life
A session at the hospital in the morning, a walk in the afternoon, nothing in the evening. We handle the bookings, cars and restaurants.
Feeling run down
Low energy and an irregular routine. The constitution assessment gives you the physician's view, and practical advice on food, rest and exercise.
Staying well as the years go by
Gentle exercise, seasonal eating and a steady routine: the everyday habits that TCM wellness is built on.
Curious about Chinese medicine
Never had a TCM consultation? This is an easy way to try one, with your coordinator beside you interpreting as the physician explains each step and why.
Time for yourself, or together
Come alone and we give you space to yourself. Come as a couple and we book two consultations. Bring the children and we plan outings for them while one parent is at the hospital. Tell us which you are.
What a TCM wellness journey can include
After the consultation, the physician decides which therapies suit you; the activities are yours to choose.
Consultation & body constitution
A TCM physician asks about your sleep, energy, diet and health history, looks at your tongue and feels your pulse at the wrist, then describes your body constitution in traditional terms.
Avoid coffee or coloured drinks just before the consultation, as they can stain the tongue. Herbal medicine is optional and only prescribed after the physician has reviewed your current medicines.
Acupuncture
Fine needles placed by a TCM physician at the hospital. Most people feel a brief prick or a dull ache, and many find the session relaxing.
Tell your coordinator through the secure channel if you take blood thinners, have a bleeding disorder or a skin condition, or are pregnant.
Tuina massage
Traditional Chinese massage using pressing, kneading and stretching, given by the hospital's practitioners. The pressure is firm but can always be adjusted: just ask for a lighter touch.
Let your coordinator know about osteoporosis, recent injuries or blood-clotting problems before your session.
Dry cupping
Suction cups are placed on the skin, usually on the back, for a few minutes. They leave round red or purple marks that fade over the following days.
Dry cupping only, with no cuts to the skin (unlike wet cupping, or hijama). Not over broken skin, eczema or psoriasis.
Moxibustion
Dried mugwort (moxa) is lit and held close to the skin at chosen points, so you feel a gentle warmth rather than a burning heat.
Not suitable if you are sensitive to smoke or have smoke-triggered asthma, are allergic to mugwort or ragweed, or have reduced feeling in your skin.
Herbal foot soak
A warm (not hot) evening foot soak at your hotel, plain or with herbs the physician has chosen. It is the last thing before bed.
If you have diabetes, poor circulation or numb feet, or are pregnant, ask the physician first. They will advise whether to skip or adapt it.
Medicinal cuisine
Seasonal dishes using ingredients traditionally regarded in China as both food and medicine, such as goji berries and red dates.
These dishes often use cooking wine or pork stock, so if you eat halal we arrange halal meals instead. Vegetarian meals on request.
Tai chi & Baduanjin
Slow movement in a park or garden. Baduanjin (the Eight Brocades) is a short routine that is easy to learn and to keep practising at home.
Suitable for most ages. Tell the instructor about joint problems or pregnancy.
Tea culture
Learn to brew and taste Yunnan Pu'er and other Chinese teas at a tea house or tea market.
We schedule tastings in the morning or early afternoon and offer caffeine-free drinks in the evening.
A programme built around rest
Stress, routine, light, food and movement all affect sleep, so the programme works on all of them rather than just one. The sample day below shows how they fit together.
- It starts with a consultation. The TCM physician talks with you about your sleep and daily routine, then suggests the sessions that suit you.
- Sessions at the hospital. Acupuncture or tuina, for example, and never more than you are comfortable with.
- Quiet surroundings. Hotels away from main roads.
Ongoing sleep problems should also be checked by a doctor. If you have had trouble sleeping for months, snore loudly, feel very sleepy during the day, or often feel low or anxious, please see a doctor first. We can help arrange a consultation at a hospital sleep medicine department, and add a health checkup if you'd also like a general health review.
Three ways to plan your journey
There are no fixed packages. These are starting points, and we shape them around your dates and what the physician advises.
Sleep & stress programme
Five to seven days: your TCM consultation at the start, the sessions the physician recommends through the middle, morning tai chi and early nights.
A health checkup can be added.
TCM wellness retreat
The longer version. The physician's sessions are spread out over the stay, with medicinal meals, a tea afternoon and walks in between, and some days with nothing booked at all.
Kunming or Chongqing. Longer stays can be planned on request.
Add TCM to your trip
A TCM consultation and one or two sessions, tai chi in a park or a tea experience, fitted around your health checkup.
If your checkup finds anything that needs following up, the hospital doctor's advice comes first.
Lengths are typical examples.
A sample day
An example only. Your coordinator shapes the day around you, including prayer times on request.
Morning movement
After a light breakfast, tai chi or Baduanjin in a park or hotel garden, at your own pace.
Your TCM session
The session planned by your physician at the hospital, with your coordinator by your side to interpret.
Lunch & quiet time
Lunch, then time to rest, pray or read. Any tea tasting happens now, not in the evening.
An afternoon outing
A lake walk or a botanical garden. On days without cupping or acupuncture, a hot spring is an option.
Early, light dinner
Seasonal dishes, including medicinal cuisine if you'd like to try it, or halal meals on request.
Wind down
A warm foot soak, breathing practice, screens off and lights out at a regular time.
Kunming or Chongqing: two places to slow down
Both cities have large public TCM hospitals and plenty of green space. Choose by season, climate and how you'd like to spend your free time.
Spring weather and plateau calm
- Mild all year. The average temperature is about 15–16°C, and even June to August averages around 20°C: a relief from tropical or desert heat.
- Altitude, taken slowly. Kunming is at about 1,890 m. Most visitors adjust easily, but some notice mild breathlessness, a headache or lighter sleep for the first night or two. If you have a heart or lung condition, please check with your doctor before you travel. We keep your first day easy.
- Public TCM hospitals. Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Kunming Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, both profiled above.
- Plants, herbs and tea. Yunnan is home to more than half of China's plant species, including thousands of medicinal plants, and Pu'er tea comes from here. Kunming Botanical Garden includes a medicinal-herb garden.
- Lakes and parks. Dianchi Lake, the Western Hills and Green Lake Park, where black-headed gulls spend the winter, usually from November to March.
Best time: comfortable all year.
A mountain city of green hills and herb heritage
- Beibei, the green side of the city. Jinyun Mountain, a national nature reserve of subtropical evergreen forest, rises from the Jialing River.
- Large public TCM hospitals. Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has a sleep medicine centre, a preventive-care centre and an acupuncture and moxibustion department that is a national key clinical specialty.
- Herb heritage. Jinfo Mountain, part of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, has 4,180 recorded medicinal plant species and is more than 10°C cooler than the city centre in summer.
- Gardens and day trips. Nanshan Botanical Garden, home to a national camellia collection, and the karst landscapes of Wulong.
Best time: spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November). Mid-July to August is very hot in the city.
Our guide covers hospitals in seven Chinese cities. If the hospital or doctor you want isn't listed, tell us and we'll contact them for you.
How TCM wellness fits with modern medicine
TCM wellness is complementary. It sits alongside the care you get from your own doctor, never in place of it.
- Licensed practitioners only. Acupuncture, tuina, cupping, moxibustion and herbal medicine are provided only by licensed practitioners at licensed hospitals, and we only book acupuncture where the hospital confirms it uses sterile, single-use needles. Wellness activities such as tai chi, tea tastings and evening foot soaks are led by instructors or done at your hotel.
- Keep taking your medicines. Continue any prescribed medication, including sleeping tablets or antidepressants, unless your own doctor advises otherwise.
- Herbal medicine is optional. It is only prescribed after a consultation with a licensed TCM physician, who reviews your current medicines first. Herbs can interact with medicines such as blood thinners, and they are not advised if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. You can ask for the ingredient list, and ask the physician to avoid mineral and animal ingredients.
- Tell us before you travel, through the secure channel your coordinator shares (not the enquiry form), about anything on this list: pregnancy or breastfeeding, blood thinners or a bleeding disorder, a heart condition or high blood pressure, diabetes, numb feet, a skin condition, a pacemaker, osteoporosis, sensitivity to smoke or asthma, or mental-health care you are receiving. With your consent, we share this with the hospital so your plan can be adapted.
- Mild, temporary effects can happen. Cupping leaves marks that fade over days, and acupuncture can cause minor bruising. Tell the practitioner straight away if anything feels uncomfortable.
- Hot springs, with care. Hot-spring bathing may not be suitable if you have a heart condition, uncontrolled blood pressure, broken skin or numb feet, or are pregnant, so check with your doctor first. Avoid it after alcohol. The TCM physician will tell you how long to wait after cupping or acupuncture, and we plan hot-spring time for a different day if needed.
- In an emergency. If you ever feel unable to cope or unsafe, contact a doctor or emergency services straight away. In China, call 120 for an ambulance, and your coordinator can help you get to a hospital. At home, use your local emergency number.
For visitors from South and Southeast Asia and the Gulf
- Halal meals. Halal meals can be arranged, and Kunming has halal restaurants and a historic mosque near Shuncheng Street. Vegetarian and other diets on request.
- Female practitioners on request. A female practitioner, and a female coordinator or chaperone, can be requested. Subject to availability, and confirmed with you before you travel.
- Time for prayer and rest. On request, we build your schedule around prayer times.
- Ask about ingredients. If you avoid gelatin (including donkey-hide gelatin, known as e-jiao), other animal-derived ingredients, or alcohol (including herbs prepared in wine), tell the physician and ask for the ingredient list of any herbal product before you accept it.
- Modest hot-spring options. Public hot-spring pools in China are usually mixed-sex, with swimwear worn. We look for private or family hot-spring pools where available.
- Privacy. Private car transfers, discreet scheduling, and health information shared only with your consent through a secure channel.
- Easy to reach. Direct flights from many South and Southeast Asian cities, and visa-free entry for many passports. We'll check yours.
TCM wellness FAQ
What are the risks of TCM therapies?
Will it fix my insomnia?
Do I need to stop my medication?
Can I take herbs home?
How long should I stay?
Can my family join?
Ready when you are
Tell us what you'd like from your time away, your preferred city and your dates.
Or email hello@bewelltrip.com