When Wang Jijuan first tried moxibustion at her home in 2006, her husband asked her to move to the balcony or the bathroom, because of the smoke. But three years later, the same man handed over 300,000 yuan ($43,900) so she could open a moxibustion center.

The 32-year-old Beijing woman quit her journalism job to start the Aimama (moxibustion mum) Moxibustion Health Preservation Center.

The turning point came with their daughter. In 2006, Wang began to self-study traditional Chinese medicine and the use of moxibustion. Once her daughter, then barely 2, came down with a fever. Her husband wanted to take the child to hospital, but she insisted on treating her herself.