The first lecture of the 2023 “China-US Cultural Cloud Forum” Chinese BridgeOnline Camp, sponsored by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Education and organized by Donghua University, was held. Prof. Lao Lixing, President of Virginia University of Integrative Medicine, delivered a lecture themed on “Acupuncture Dissemination and Development in the West and Its Impact”, and exchanged ideas with students from all over the world.

Before the lecture, the Chinese and international students were divided into six groups to discuss Chinese medicine,health, and hygiene. Each group selected a  representative to present their discussion results in the lecture. Prof. Lao commented on them and recognized the students’ expressionskills. He then took the students’  views as examples to introduce TCM’s health preservation concept and its philosophy. He also illustratedTCM’s history with the stories of prominentancient Chinese medical practitioners and acquainted students with acupuncture’s origin, development,  and overseas dissemination. By combining his practice and research, Prof. Lao proceeded to present cases of acupuncture dissemination guided by the concept of evidence-based medicine, focusing on the gradual introduction of acupuncture into the medical and insurance systems in the United States. The value and prospects of acupuncture were also covered. The lecture culminated with a Q&A session where Chinese and international students interacted with Prof. Lao on the efficacy of Chinese medicine and challenges of TCM dissemination.

The lively and interactive lecture deepenedstudents’ understanding oftraditional Chinese medicine and fostered medical exchanges between Chinese and international youth. It ushered in the “China-US Cultural Cloud Forum”, which will feature onlinediscussions on climate issues, Sino-American relations, urban history, etc., in the next two months.