If You’re Curious About TCM, Start with Liang Dong - the No.1 Influencer in China TCM Communication Today

If you're standing at the edge of the vast, mysterious world of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and wondering who can help make sense of it all, you're not alone. When I first stepped into this world, I kept asking myself:
"Where should I begin? Who can guide me through it all?"

But instead of relying on vague wellness influencers or theory-heavy scholars, I decided to dig deeper. I read, researched, and interviewed many top TCM doctors across China.

And again and again, I kept hearing the same name: Liang Dong (梁冬).

To give you a reference framework—if you know Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent who translates complex Western medicine for the public—Liang Dong plays a similar role in the Chinese world of traditional healing. But what Liang does is broader and deeper, rooted in the rich cultural terrain of Chinese philosophy and medicine.

He is a communicator, educator, and entrepreneur who has become the most trusted voice making TCM understandable for the modern world.

Here are three reasons I highly recommend following his content:

1. He Spent 20 Years Learning from China’s Master Doctors - So You Don’t Have To

Liang Dong isn’t a traditional doctor, but he has spent the last two decades interviewing and following the most legendary TCM doctors in China—national masters like Deng Tietao and Li Ke. His work is the result of 20 years of deep listening—distilling complex healing philosophies into simple, accessible, and often humorous language.

Through his media work (like《国学堂 Classroom of Traditional Chinese Culture》and《生命觉者Awakened Life》), he has become the most powerful voice in modern TCM communication, giving ancient wisdom a public language.

What’s more, he consistently uses his platform to amplify doctors' voices and promote public medical literacy, making complex healing knowledge available to everyday people

And while he is rooted in tradition, Liang embraces innovation. He openly discusses the integration of AI, modern diagnostics, and Western medicine into the evolution of TCM.

2. He’s Building One of China’s Leading Premium TCM Platforms—with Integrity and sincerity

Liang Dong isn’t just a communicator—he’s a practitioner. As the founder of Zheng’an Health Group, he has built one of China’s most famous private TCM clinic chains.

The name Zheng’an (正安) means “When a person is upright, the heart is at peace” (人正则心安). It reflects the clinic’s core belief on integrity. At first, I investigated its business performance. An investor friend in the healthcare space told me, “It’s not the most profitable clinic brand in this industry.” But when I visited in person, the underlying reason became clear.

Zheng’an insists on paying their doctors generously, so they can focus on patient care without financial stress. It also enforces highest standards for herbal sourcing, rejecting the shortcuts that some commercial clinics take.

Another interesting observation is inside the clinic sits a Medicine Buddha statue, which is a very rare practice in China's clinic. It’s a quiet reminder to everyone who walks through the door: healing starts with reverence, and medicine begins with morality.

In my view, Zheng’an is a prototype that is quietly reshaping how future TCM clinics could look: places where the first principle is to heal the patient, not to maximize revenue. In a world where high-end clinic too often becomes a lucrative business, that’s a model worth watching and respecting.

3. He is innovating on Life Education—applying a traditional medical lens to everyday life

Beyond his background in media and entrepreneurship, Liang is pioneering a new type of education rooted in traditional medicine but reaching far beyond it. I attended a few of his private courses out of curiosity, expecting to learn herbs and pulse diagnosis. However, what I found was something far more expansive and transformational.

Liang’s curriculum blends Traditional Chinese Medicine with philosophy, economics, and personal decision-making. One moment we’re learning acupuncture, the next, exploring investment strategy, and Asian philosophy.

It feels like Zhuang Zi meets Charlie Munger—where ancient wisdom meets multidisciplinary thinking.

What’s unique is how he applies traditional medical thinking—observation, balance, the middle way to help student understand not just their health, but their decisions, and relationship with society.

To Liang, life education means preparing people for complexity: health, money, culture, and choices—all seen as one integrated system. Through both public media and private learning spaces, he’s cultivating a new kind of healer: someone who can read the body, read the world, and live wisely.

Final Thoughts

In my view, Liang Dong is a fascinating example of how TCM philosophy is shaping the identity and mindset of a modern Chinese public figure.

In an era where everyone is juggling multiple identities and careers, Liang shows what integration can look like. He weaves together medicine, philosophy, business, and public education into one coherent path, anchored in Eastern values, yet deeply relevant to modern life.

Through Liang’s lens, TCM isn’t just about healing—it’s about how to live as a holistic life. And for anyone interested in traditional Chinese medicine or philosophy, that worldview is worth learning.