In and around Chengdu today it is easy to enroll in a "training class for nourishing life" (yangsheng peixunban 养生培训班). I joined one held in a Daoist temple dedicated to Yaowang 药王, the King of Medicines, near the scenic area of Mount Qingcheng 青城山 (Sichuan) in April 2016. About fifty elderly people participated in various classes for two days, spending two nights in the temple, which often hosts these kinds of events from spring to fall—the activity is important both for income and popularity. The classes divide between theoretical lessons about principles of Chinese medicine and outdoors training, consisting in learning taiji quan movements. There is only one teacher, a 35-year-old man generally called "master" (shifu).1 Several young employees in their twenties assist the participants. They refer to the firm hiring them as a "company for nourishing life" (yangsheng gongsi 养生公司). According to them, the company chose this temple because it is quite a famous place and also has a pleasant environment. (...)