We are a Beijing-based TCM + AI company on a mission to make Traditional Chinese Medicine accessible to the world β starting with your morning cup of tea.
We're a team of AI engineers and licensed TCM practitioners based in Beijing, China, founded at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (δΈε½η§ε¦ι’). Our work sits at the intersection of two ancient traditions β Chinese medicine's 5,000-year clinical heritage, and modern artificial intelligence's ability to see patterns no human can.
TCM has always been deeply personalized: a skilled practitioner considers your pulse, your tongue, your voice, your symptoms, and your lifestyle before making a diagnosis. This is called εθ―εε (Four Diagnostic Methods) β inspection, listening/smelling, inquiry, and palpation. We believe AI can help scale this wisdom so anyone, anywhere, can benefit from it.
5ElemTea is our first consumer product β an AI-powered entry point into the Five Element framework. But behind the tea is a much bigger vision: an AI-powered wellness companion that learns from TCM's vast knowledge base and adapts to you β your constitution, your season, your symptoms, your life.
Traditional Chinese Medicine isn't a relic of the past. It's a 5,000-year data set waiting for the right tools to unlock it. Our job is to build those tools β and make sure everyone can use them.
β Our Founding Team, BeijingWe're developing AI models that combine tongue analysis, pulse wave interpretation, voice tone analysis, and symptom questionnaires β mirroring the four diagnostic methods TCM practitioners have used for millennia. Our goal: make this level of analysis available on any smartphone.
For thousands of years, TCM knowledge lived in inaccessible textbooks, classical Chinese texts, and oral traditions passed between masters and apprentices. We're translating, structuring, and building AI on top of this knowledge so the whole world can access it β in their own language, on their own terms.
Not everyone wants a full diagnostic analysis. So we made 5ElemTea β a simple, beautiful product that brings the Five Element framework into your daily routine. Brew a cup, take the quiz, and let ancient wisdom guide your day. It's TCM for the real world.
The TCM philosophy is fundamentally preventive: treat disease before it manifests (ζ²»ζͺη ). We believe this is the future of global healthcare β shifting from reactive treatment to proactive wellness. Our AI tools are designed to catch imbalances early, when diet, lifestyle, and herbs can still make the difference.
The Five Element (δΊθ‘) theory is the oldest known framework for understanding the human body as an interconnected system. It's not a belief β it's an observation of how nature and the human body mirror each other.
Wood represents growth, flow, and decisive action. When Wood is balanced, you're creative, calm under pressure, and your digestion flows smoothly. When stagnant, tension builds β tight shoulders, irritability, PMS, headaches. Renew helps Wood energy move again.
Fire governs joy, connection, and rest. When balanced, you sleep well, feel present, and connect easily with others. When Fire is disturbed, you experience anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations, or emotional numbness. Calm brings Fire back to its gentle, warming nature.
Earth is about transformation β how your body turns food into energy, and experiences into wisdom. When Earth is strong, your digestion is reliable, your mind is clear, and you feel grounded. When weak, you experience bloating, brain fog, worry, and a craving for sweets. Balance restores your center.
Metal governs your boundaries β the skin, the lungs, your immune system. When Metal is strong, your defenses are up and your breathing is deep. When weakened, you catch everything going around, your skin breaks out, and grief lingers. Shield reinforces your protective Qi (ζ°).
Water stores your deepest reserves β what TCM calls Jing (η²Ύ), or essence. It governs the entire life cycle: birth, growth, reproduction, aging. When Water is full, you have energy, strong bones, sharp hearing, and resilience. When depleted, chronic fatigue, low libido, weak knees, and premature aging appear. Vitality replenishes the well.
Our founders met at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (δΈε½η§ε¦ι’) in Beijing. A shared vision was born: to model the TCM diagnostic process (εθ―εε) β inspection, listening/smelling, inquiry, and palpation β as a multi-modal AI problem combining image, audio, time-series, and structured data. The εθ―εε project was formally launched.
We began using 3D printing and artificial intelligence to validate the feasibility of automated εθ―εε. Custom hardware prototypes for pulse acquisition were 3D-printed in-house, while machine learning models were trained on early clinical datasets. This cross-disciplinary approach β hardware and AI working in parallel β became our signature methodology.
The first generation of our pulse diagnostic device (θθ―δ»ͺ) was completed. Combining a high-precision pressure sensor array with deep learning models, it could capture 1,800 data points per pulse waveform at 0β1024 resolution and classify basic pulse types (floating, sinking, slippery, choppy, etc.) with clinical-grade accuracy. This was a major milestone in hardware-based TCM diagnostics.
We began integrating large language models (LLMs) into our diagnostic pipeline β enabling natural language symptom intake, conversational diagnosis guidance, and personalized wellness advice in plain English (and Chinese). At the same time, we launched 5ElemTea, our first consumer-facing product: an AI-powered Five Element quiz paired with classical TCM tea formulas. This made TCM accessible to anyone, anywhere.
We are now implementing ζΊθ½δΈε»δΊ§δΈε (Smart TCM Industrialization) β bringing together pulse diagnostics, tongue analysis, voice analysis, LLM-powered consultation, and the Five Element framework into an integrated platform. Our goal: a fully AI-assisted TCM wellness system that anyone with a smartphone can use, powered by our knowledge graph of 376 classical formulas and 421 herbs.
AI-First, TCM-Grounded. Every algorithm we build is constrained by TCM theory β we're not throwing data at a black box. Our knowledge graph ensures that any AI recommendation is traceable to a classical source. If the AI suggests something, it can tell you which text and which formula it's based on.
Clinically Informed. Our team includes licensed TCM practitioners with decades of clinical experience. They validate every model output, every formula recommendation, and every quiz interpretation. The AI assists; the human decides.
Herb Quality. For 5ElemTea, every herb is single-origin, third-party tested, and sourced from farms in China we've personally visited. Our supply chain partners follow Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) and sustainable harvesting methods. No pesticides, no irradiation, no fillers.
Global Mission. We believe TCM is one of humanity's greatest intellectual treasures. It deserves to be shared with the world β not as an exotic curiosity, but as a practical, evidence-informed wellness system that anyone can use. That's what we're building.
We're based in Beijing, China β a team of AI researchers, TCM practitioners, and product builders who believe the best of Chinese medicine is yet to come.