Chinese massage therapy follows very closely to acupuncture in that is focuses on the meridian channels and is very similar in the conditions that it can help, however it shouldn’t be substituted for acupuncture as Chinese massage therapy has its own merits and benefits. It is a very effective form of therapy and is used alongside other traditional forms of Chinese medicine such as herbal remedies, Qi gong and diet.

Massage therapy stems back as far as 722 BC when it was seen in ancient medical texts and during the Tang dynasty in 1907 AD when there were thought to be around 56 massage Doctors in the Imperial hospital which was more than the total amount of acupuncturists and herbalists combined. The Chinese methods of massage were imported to Japan and this eventually become what is know today as Shiatsu massage in Japan.