Beijing: A therapist pours alcohol over a patient and sets him alight, for some in China, playing with fire is a treatment for illness.
So-called “fire therapy”, which proponents claim can cure stress, indigestion, infertility and even cancer, has been used for hundreds of years and recently garnered a blaze of attention in Chinese media. There is no orthodox medical evidence that it is effective, a fact that matters little to one of China's most prominent fire therapists.
“Fire therapy is the fourth revolution in human history, it surpasses both Chinese and Western medicine,” said Zhang Fenghao, who trains students at a dingy apartment in Beijing and charges around 300 yuan ($48) per hour for treatment.
He applied a herbal paste to a patient’s back, covered it with a towel and poured on water and 95 per cent rubbing alcohol, adding: “Using this method, patients can avoid operations.” Then Zhang flicked a cigarette lighter, igniting a miniature inferno of orange and blue flames dancing above his spine.
The practice is based on Chinese folk beliefs that health depends on maintaining a balance of “hot” and “cold” elements within the body. “We start a fire on top of the body, which gets rid of cold inside the body,” said Zhang.
