Objective:To investigate menopause-related symptoms,traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)-diagnosis and hormone status of two comparable urban samples of menopausal women,one in Essen (Germany) and the other in Shanghai (China).Methods:Patients suffering from menopausesyndrome were recruited from the TCM-outpatient clinic of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany (35 subjects) and from the Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China (35 subjects).The Kupperman-lndex for tracing menopausal symptoms was applied.The complete TCM-diagnosis was carried out by the same investigator in China as well as in Germany.Testosterone and estrogen blood samples were collected once from every woman.Results:There were significant differences in specific symptoms of the Kupperman-lndex,such as a higher prevalence of formication and depression in German menopausal women;whereas Chinese menopausal women suffered significantly more from vertigo,headache and paraesthesia symptoms.Concing TCM diagnosis，Shen (肾)-yang deficiency was diagnosed in 51.43% of the German women in contrast to 5.71 % of the Chinese women;17.14 % of the German women were diagnosed as having Shen-yin deficiency compared to 74.29 % of the Chinese women.The German women showed significantly lower mean hormone levels for testosterone compared to the Chinese women (P≤0.0005).Conclusions:German and Chinese menopausal women do not show different prevalence but have different patts of menopausal symptoms.Furthermore,from a TCM point of view,German women suffer more from Shen-yang deficiency whereas Chinese women suffer more from Shen-yin deficiency syndrome.These results are supported by significantly lower levels of testosterone in German women compared to Chinese women,which,in TCM,is a characteristic of yang deficiency.