Pharmacist Pham Thi Thai Hoa carefully checks the prescription and, in fluent Chinese, tells the patient how to take the medicine.

They always take it for granted that she is Chinese, but the 32-year-old is from Vietnam.

"I have been in China for almost 14 years, and I have been working in this hospital for nearly a year," Hoa said. "The patients are surprised to learn that I am a Vietnamese, but I understand, because foreign doctors rarely worked in China before."

Hoa works at the Guangxi International Zhuang Medicine Hospital in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. She was recruited shortly after gaining her doctoral degree at Guangxi Medical University last year.

The Zhuang, the second-most populous ethnic group in China, mostly live in Guangxi, the only autonomous region in South China. A year after the founding of the hospital, their traditional medicine, developed over a thousand years, is now spreading and flourishing.

Construction of the hospital, a major livelihood project in Guangxi, began in 2015. Its opening three years later coincided with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the autonomous region.

"The regional government has always treasured Zhuang medicine," said Tan Yuwang, the director of the hospital. "In 1985, an institute specializing in ethnic medicine was established in Guangxi. Twenty years later, based on the experience and knowledge gained from the institute, Guangxi Medical University decided to set up this hospital, and with government support it took only three years to complete the project."

Positioned as an all-around and modern international ethnic hospital, it integrates multiple functions, including medical treatment, teaching, scientific research, rehabilitation, healthcare and adult education. It is devoted to providing training in Zhuang and Yao medicine, the cultural inheritance of ethnic medicine and international exchanges.

The hospital employs 50 renowned traditional Chinese medicine experts, and it has 46 clinical and medical departments and two national key specialties recognized by the State Administration of TCM: rheumatology and Zhuang medicinal massage.

"Our hospital covers a total area of 20 hectares and has 1,000 inpatient beds," Tan said. "Based on traditional Chinese medicines, we focus on spreading the medical traditions of the Zhuang and Yao ethnic groups."