Foreigners flock to Taoism for natural balance

The ancient Chinese religious philosophy is attracting a growing number of adherents across the globe, as Xu Wei reports from Yingtan, Jiangxi province

After spending 19 years studying Taoist medical practices, Bernard Shannon opened his own temple in Palm Desert, California, in 2006. "There were only a handful of disciples and a few visitors. People came to me primarily for medical qigong or tai chi lessons," Shannon said, speaking at a Taoist forum in Yingtan, Jiangxi province.

Shannon, who has been ordained as a disciple of the 66th generation of the Celestial Master Sect of Taoism at Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi, found that the popularity of his teaching grew over time, and as his students dug deeper into exercises and medicine rooted in Taoist understanding of the body and the cosmology, they became increasingly interested in the sect's religious beliefs.