Elementary school students in Beijing will be taught rudimentary knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) beginning this fall, the Beijing Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine confirmed to the Global Times Monday.

The program is part of the city's year-long campaign that aims to give a shot in the arm to TCM.

The optional class will be offered as a way of popularizing TCM and integrating its practice in the daily lives of residents, the administration said.

Some downtown schools with better resources and capable personnel will be the first to launch the new course, which will include topics such as TCM-related stories and myths, mental health, lifestyle tips and even recipes for a balanced diet.

"Students will be taught the basics of herbal medicine and the body's nervous system. They'll learn which nerve points to push to relieve nausea or treat stroke," a staffer with the administration surnamed Zhu told the Global Times.

While elementary students will be taught basic TCM, high school students will be taught TCM courses that focus on integrating into their chemistry and history classes, another official who asked not to be named told the Global Times.

High school students will be taught about Yin and Yang, the five elements, Zang and Fu (internal organs) and the circulation vessel. Their courses are not likely to be taught until next year as their textbook is now being written. The book is expected to be published next year, the Beijing Times reported.

Some commentators do not support the move and equate it to an indoctrination, saying TCM practices often fail scientific scrutiny.

Fang Zhouzi, a science writer and anti-fraud campaigner, said that teaching TCM to young children is inappropriate.

"It's equivalent to poisoning students with superstition," said the critic. "TCM, without rigorous laboratory analysis, is experience-based, not science-based," Fang told the Global Times. "Western medicine has a more solid foundation in science."

Yet supporters of TCM hail the plan to teach it in the public school, saying it will help maintain its 5,000-year legacy.

"It has a long, uninterrupted history that has been researched for generations and contains their collective wisdom," Guo Lizhong, a professor with the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, told the Global Times Monday.

"TCM is simple, effective, convenient and inexpensive," Guo added.

"Comparing TCM to Western medicine is like trying to understand the Bible from the perspective of the Diamond Sutra - the classic Buddhist text," Guo said, adding that TCM has a long list of ancient Chinese medicine masterpieces that still guide clinical treatments today.

Beijing is not the only city to educate young children on the real and perceived benefits of TCM.

Beginning in March 2011, authorities in Qingyang, Gansu Province, have required all elementary schools and even day-care centers in the city to teach TCM-related songs.