Cultural exchange between Sweden and East Asia began in earnest with the establishment of the Swedish East India Company in 1731. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Swedish missionary movement and Theosophy constituted important contexts for the way in which Swedes engaged with East Asian religious traditions. Today, Buddhism is relatively well-established, and the umbrella organisation The Swedish Buddhist Community serves more than 11,000 individuals. Several practices related to spirituality and alternative medicine with a connection to East Asia are widespread, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (primarily acupuncture), qigong and reiki-healing. Concepts like qi/ki also play a role in several systems of martial arts. Research on alternative spirituality is strong in Sweden, and some of these practices have been mapped from this perspective. However, scholarship on East Asian diasporic communities is limited.