Chinese charlatan’s business still flourishes in China

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Xiao Hongci was arrested for two deaths from his “self-healing courses” in the UK in April and then extradited to Australia in August, however, reporters from Chinese news outlet, The Paper, found that his business has still continued to flourish in China.

The so-called slapping therapist’s tricks had been exposed by domestic news agencies in 2012, long before his arrest. However, the domestic business of slapping therapy, “paidalajin”, has continued to thrive in many ways, including with off-line lectures and an e-commerce business.

Claiming to be a self-healing promoter and a health management expert, Xiao founded the business centered on “paidalajin” therapy, claiming it could cure patients a range of ailments including colds, strokes, depression, senile dementia, paralysis, renal failure, and even cancer.

From “paidalajin” philosophy, body will start self-healing after “sha” - the toxin in the patients’ body - is expelled via body stretching and slapping. It also needs patients with serious diseases to fast and to stop taking their medication.

Photo from “paidalajin” official website

Xiao was charged with two counts of manslaughter abroad. The treatment was the direct cause of death for a six-year-old boy in Sydney and a-71-year-old woman from South England, who both stopped taking insulin as part of the “paidalajin” therapy.

The Beijing News Photo

But until now, Xiao's official Weibo account still remains quite active with over 170 thousand followers, and keeps a regular pace of about five to six new tweets per day, promoting the apparently deceptive “paidalajin” therapy.

The “paidalajin” therapy is mainly applied through online and offline courses.

The online courses are reportedly priced at 1,280 yuan (200 US dollars) per session and the patients attend the courses through a WeChat group, in which a “master” will give lessons about the detailed treatment for one hour a day. Patients will be given assignments like slapping, stretching, and taking foot baths after the course.

Photo from “paidalajin” official website

The offline self-healing camps also run well, with camps intended to be held in at least five cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen from December 2017 to February 2018. According to The Beijing News, a domestic news outlet, the offline course varies in cost, from the lowest fee of 900 yuan (140 US dollars) per day to 20,000 to 30,000 yuan (3,000 to 4,500 US dollars) for each session.

The business also profits from selling unreasonably high-priced medical equipment to patients as part of their treatment. Equipment like a stretching stool (over 150 US dollars) and a stretching board (over 50 US dollars) are sold on nearly all the well-known e-commerce platforms in China, which are led by Taobao, Jingdong, and WeChat shop.

It even set up an official webpage and an app to attract more patients.

Photo from “paidalajin” official website

According to The Paper, the business is run by disciples of Xiao Hongci who, when asked about their master, said that “Master Xiao has been busy doing business overseas due to the high demand from the global market.”

However, when the reporter revealed his identity, they became outraged, asking, “By what rights are media agencies entitled to investigate us?“ They then hung up.

The controversial therapist Xiao Hongci was expelled from Taiwan due to illegal practice of medicine in 2011. He then moved to the Chinese mainland to continue his career, but was exposed by The Beijing News in 2012 for accelerating the death of a 51-year-old woman with liver cancer who took Xiao’s alternative therapy and died just three months after attending the “paidalajin” camp.