Traditional Chinese medicine originated in ancient China and has evolved over thousands of years. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners use herbal medicines and various mind and body practices, such as acupuncture and Tai chi, to treat or prevent health problems.[Photo/Xinhua]

When the acupuncture needles were inserted into his body, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the Oscar-winning director, struggled to keep smiling in front of his wife and three kids, who were holding breath and watching attentively.

"It can hurt a little, but the pain does not stay, it takes maybe a few seconds then it goes away," Donnersmarck told Xinhua on Friday at an acupuncture clinic.

Donnersmarck has been coming to the Beijing Chinese Medical Center in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, every week for three months.

This 44-year-old German director is best known for his thriller "The Lives of Others," which won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 79th Oscars in 2007.

Years of working hard in the movie industry caused Donnersmarck neck pains, and it got serious in February when the doctor told him he needed surgery. Then a nurse suggested him to try Traditional Chinese medicine and to see Dr. Wu Baolin at the Beijing Chinese Medical Center.

As a recognized authority on Traditional Chinese medicine with a degree in Western medicine, Dr. Wu has been practicing in Santa Monica for 27 years.

Donnersmarck admitted that it was scary when he saw the acupuncture needles for the first time. "Acupuncture is a very precise, careful and caring process... the doctor can not miss by a few millimeters," he told Xinhua, "With Dr. Wu, you feel so much the deep wisdom, the experience, the knowledge. I feel it so much and I trust him."

His trust paid him back. Without any surgery, Donnersmarck's problem was solved in one month. "I found that Western medicine can be very aggressive, and it has extreme side effects," Donnersmarck said. "But for Traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, they do not have side effects, it is about activating the energy and oxygen flow in the body, it is about helping the body heal itself."

Another thing that Donnersmarck found impressive was how Dr. Wu takes Western medicine into consideration and uses that in Traditional Chinese medicine.