If you find a ‘Made in China’ tag on your Chyavanprash in two years, don’t put it back on the shelf as fake. The Dragon has set foot in Kerala for a slice of the Ayurveda market, replete with exchange of ancient Chinese medicine.Spearheading the movement is 30-year-old Xu Guohua, a management consultant from Beijing who, having discovered yoga a year ago, is planning to open a chain of ayurvedic health resorts in China. She has applied for a licence back in China and is holding talks with leading Ayurvedic companies and practitioners in the state.‘‘There are similarities between Ayurveda and Zhong Yao, the ancient system of medicine in China. They both regard people as unique and treat the root cause rather than the phenomenon. Treatment is based on different body types and medicines are organic and based on herbs and plants,’’ says Xu. ‘‘The licence is being processed back home and the first Ayurvedic centre will come up in January, 2004, at Beijing City Centre. We have also held talks with Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Kerala Ayurveda Pharmacy Ltd and will be meeting representatives of Nagarjuna and Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. We will also be taking Ayurvedic practitioners and experts to China.’’Xu has experienced Ayurveda first hand at Thani Illam in Thottuva, Perumbavoor. The project will require an initial investment of $2,00,000, she says, which can be recovered in two years. ‘‘India is no longer an unfamiliar country and relations between the countries are getting stronger. Since travel restrictions came off recently, there is a lot of enthusiasm for India as a tourist destination. In Beijing alone, there are about 20 Indian restaurants. Yoga is also extremely popular in the urban areas and youth have taken to it,’’ she says.The chain will benefit the state as health tourism is one area that has picked up in China. ‘‘Many people are coming to India from China to learn yoga. I learnt yoga at Uttarkashi. Once ayurveda becomes popular, there will be many coming here,’’ says Santhosh T.P, a consultant of Thani Illam, who was in China last year. ‘‘It is not just the market. The ties are much stronger as our Nagarjuna is the same as the Medicinal Buddha in China.”
