I just came across this interview which was written up in the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana recently on 2/1/09. Columnist Jeff Manes interviews Dr. Tieh Wang, an 82 year-old retired laboratory director, who grew up near Beijing. Dr. Wang has interesting insights into pre- and post-Maoist China. He says that "Acupuncture would be dead without Mao Tse-Tung" since Mao created two kinds of hospitals; modern and traditional. The traditional hospitals offer the traditional medicines of China including acupuncture. According to Dr. Wang, Mao was a rebel from the countryside, where there were no doctors to treat the soldiers. Therefore, acupuncture was a common modality. Also, rural dwellers couldn't afford doctors, so they turned to the local healers. The interview is a worth a quick read for his other life experiences from Taiwan to Rochester NY to the midwest.