The macho workout motto conjures images of sweat and brawn but the regime is somewhat pricklier at the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital in northern China, where the chronically obese from Europe to Oceania come to poke away pounds with acupuncture.

"Ah, ahhh, okay, okay, okay!" yelps Singaporean Zaidah Abu with a snigger, as a Chinese acupuncturist wiggles a three-inch needle into her fleshy arm.

Abu has posed for the Tianjin-based weight loss clinic's advertisements this summer and, if you believe the ads, is the latest proof the ancient medical practice nets results.

She tipped the scales at 150 kg (330 lb) when she checked in four and a half months ago but has dropped 60 kg since. In exchange for her "before and after" shots, Aimin waived the fee of around 4,000 yuan (US$480) a month customers pay for treatment, room and board.

Aimin workout sessions look almost effortless: acupuncture in the morning and light dance aerobics in the afternoon, interspersed with well-balanced meals and counselling.

But since the late 1990s, the clinic has been a leading brand in an upstart industry popularizing Chinese medicine as a shortcut to slim down.

Chinese medical theory traditionally holds that overweight people have imbalanced digestive systems. And in the past two decades, the ranks of the imbalanced have swelled with the country's booming economy.

As fat cats gorge on dozen-course banquets and their children munch on Kentucky Fried Chicken, entrepreneurial apothecaries are concocting diet teas and tonics to help Chinese fight the battle of the bulge.

Some clinical studies have discounted the role of acupressure, acupuncture and reflexology in weight loss while doctors and dietitians in the West have condemned sham practitioners of hokum, "new age" treatments.

But Shi Lidong, director of the hospital, said hitting the right pressure points can help redress the body's imbalance by stimulating the metabolism and curbing the appetite.

"First, it effectively controls the desire for food and reduces hunger. Second, it reduces the digestive system's ability to absorb food," he said. "At the same time it also speeds up the digestive system's ability to break down fat."

(Agencies via Xinhua Sep 2, 2003)