Theme
Wellness and Living Philosophy
These days are not spa days. They are an introduction to a coherent and extremely old position on rest, food, movement and attention — one that is still in daily use by the people teaching it.
The through-line is attention rather than treatment. A pulse read carefully, a meal built on principles rather than preference, a teahouse afternoon that is allowed to have no purpose.
Beijing supplies the clinical half — diagnosis, pharmacy, needles if you want them. Hangzhou supplies the contemplative half in a monastic kitchen. Chengdu supplies the argument that doing nothing, slowly, in a chair, is itself a position worth defending.
4 days
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Chengdu Teahouses by Handmade Bicycle
Chengdu · One day, roughly 09:30 to 18:00
A private day riding a locally made bicycle between riverside tea gardens, back lanes and markets, at the pace Chengdu actually runs at.
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Chinese Medicine and Qigong in Beijing
Beijing · One day, roughly 08:00 to 18:00
A day inside Chinese medicine — pulse reading, a working clinic, a herbal pharmacy, and a table built on the same principles.
- Simple bowls of vegetarian food set on a plain wooden table
A Vegetarian Table with the Monks of Hangzhou
Hangzhou · One day, roughly 08:00 to 16:00
A quiet private day in the hills above Hangzhou — forest paths, a working monastic kitchen, and lunch cooked on eleven hundred years of practice.
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Private Mah-jong and a Countryside Table near Chengdu
Chengdu · One day, roughly 09:00 to 18:00
A private day in the Sichuan countryside — learning mah-jong properly, a farmhouse lunch, and the local ear-cleaning ritual if you dare.
Questions
Is this alternative medicine tourism?
No. These are explanatory days with practitioners, not treatment, and nothing on them replaces advice from your own doctor. Tell us about any condition in advance and we brief the hosts.
Do I need to be fit?
No. Qigong and tai chi are low-impact and taught from zero, and the walking on these days is gentle.
What is the difference between qigong and tai chi?
Tai chi is a martial form practised slowly; qigong is a broader set of breathing and movement exercises with no combat origin. Most morning groups in Chinese parks do both, often at the same time.
Can vegetarians and vegans be accommodated?
Comfortably. The monastic table in Hangzhou is entirely vegetarian by definition, and the other days adapt easily.