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Published: June 16th 2010
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Acupuncture
I don't know if you can see it very clearly in the picture, but that man has needles all over the exposed parts of his body. 6/8/10
In the morning we were taken to the Yunnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, where we will be learning about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) during the program. First we had orientation in the lecture room on the 12th floor. The next few paragraphs will contain my briefing of the notes I took, so feel free to skip over them if they are uninteresting.
According to a study conducted by WHO, roughly 80% of people in the world have used TCM herbal remedies for treatment. TCM is expected to further expand its influence as China itself expands. Although the social gap in China between the rich and poor is only getting bigger and bigger, China’s economy is booming. China is also experiencing changes to the traditional way of life it held before. In the past, most Chinese children would take over the businesses of their parents after their parents retired; however in present day more Chinese students are leaving China to go study abroad and make their own careers. Thirty years ago there was no such thing as insurance, however now it can be seen everywhere in China. Unfortunately prostitution and gambling are coming back in the frequency
that it occurred back in feudal times. The program director, Lu Yuan, said that right now “China is like an old man in a Confucius robe driving a Mercedes on a mountain road—very exciting, but very dangerous.”
The area around the hospital that we will be studying at already has 900 years of history. Until 1947, Kunming was a very traditional city. However in 1997, there was an international expo to be held in Kunming, so the city wanted to show its modern face to the world. Nearly all of the traditional streets were torn down except for a few, which is right around the hospital’s location. One can venture down the street from the hospital and find a pharmacy with a 100-year-old legacy. The hospital is located in this preserved historical site of Kunming and the hospital itself is a historical landmark of old Kunming. The hospital was established in 1947 and currently has 986 staff members, 150 professors and associate professors, 22 TCM professional practitioners, 29 departments, and one herbal medicine factory.
The practice of TCM emphasizes the body as a whole. It pays special attention to relationships, for example organ to organ, human
Herbs
Each of those drawers has a different kind of herb. The room was full with dozens of cabinets just like those. to world, and body to spirit. Food, music, natural medicine in the forms of herbs, massage, acupuncture, and Tai Ji can all be used as treatment. TCM has been found to be very effective in the treatment of tumors, arthritis, elderly diseases, skin and bone diseases, and diseases specific to men.
The Yunnan TCM Hospital itself is well known around the world. The president of Jibuhti once came to the hospital for treatment. The hospital has trained German doctors in TCM, been visited by American doctors, has received delegations from Thailand, and has a close relationship with the European TCM organization.
While the hospital is most famous for its practice of TCM, Western medicine is also present in the hospital. According to the patient’s condition, both TCM and Western medicine can work together to heal the patient. For example a patient may require a surgery which Western medicine can address, however the recovery process afterward can be aided by TCM. Doctors in the hospital are well versed with both fields of medicine.
Lu Yuan concluded the orientation with a wonderful statement that I will never forget: “The world is colorful in its diversity. By
accepting and learning about other cultures and places, we can become more colorful and wise.”
After the orientation, we took a tour around the hospital. We visited the various departments such as the acupuncture and moxibustion floor, the massage therapy floor, and the physiotherapy floor. Even though we crowded into patients’ rooms, the patients did not seem to care. One of the program staff said that it was okay to take pictures because there is hardly any concept of privacy in China concerning these situations. The patients genuinely did not care that we were taking pictures of them and talking about their conditions. We also got to see the place where the hospital kept its herbs to distribute to the doctors or for patients who came by to pick up herbs prescribed to them.
Then we went to eat lunch in the hospital cafeteria, which was actually quite a bit of food for less than a dollar in US currency. After lunch we had about an hour to kill before having to return to the lecture room in the hospital, so we went to the Flower and Bird Market near the hospital. It was appropriately named
Not So Eww Bugs
Carolyn and I are holding dried centipedes held straight by thin strips of wood. They're used as natural remedies. I'm not sure what they treat though. Surprisingly they weren't gross at all. because a large part of the market sold gorgeous flowers and cacti and the corner of the street sold all sorts of animals, mostly different kinds of birds.
Naturally, I was thrilled at seeing all the adorable birds. There was a huge cage of parakeets, along with cages of other colorful birds whose breed I was unfamiliar with. They even had crows in cages. The other pets they sold were beetles, turtles in different sizes, snakes, mice, worms to feed the birds, and lizards. The people in my group fell in love with the animals, especially the baby turtles which were about the size of a US half dollar coin. They were also the most portable and easiest to take care of, so three of our group members got the liveliest baby turtles they could find. There were about 11 元 each, including the cage and food. The turtles were so adorable and they never gave up trying to climb out of their plastic cages, often flipping themselves over on their backs in the process.
We returned to the lecture room in the hospital and showed the program director and other staff the turtles, which highly
Pick-up Window
Where herbs for outpatients are picked up amused them. Then we were shown a movie all about Yunnan province and its gorgeous sights and diverse cultures. It made all of us extremely excited about the field excursion we are going to take in July around Yunnan. Then we took a Chinese placement test to determine what levels of Chinese each of us were at. Naturally I was unnecessarily worried about it even though it was just a placement test, however the interviewers were really nice and asked simple questions. Eight of us were beginners, three of us were advanced, and a handful, including me, was intermediate.
After the placement test we were free to do what we wanted, so Lewis, Lye Ching, Stacy, Liz and I all went around the city to explore and do a little shopping for things that we needed. We strolled through the Flower and Bird Market again and bought the most ripe and delicious lychee I have ever had. We devoured the bag but saved a few for the other group members to try. There was also a crowded bakery that we went to where we bought shaved ice that they made in front of us and covered with a
Uh, yum?
A rather unflattering shot of Peter. Sorry Peter.
He's had a cough since coming from Beijing, so they gave him a few herbs to try. They were only slightly bitter. thick layer of all kinds of fruit. We did not even know what all the fruit were, but we did find out that they were all delicious.
Afterward we met up with the more members of our group in the hotel. We met a new group member, Erin, who had arrived late because she missed her flight to Kunming. Apparently it was because the security at Beijing airport made her go through the long lines at immigration twice, which held her up so long that she missed her flight. We all went to dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and ordered way too much food because the waitress lied and said that what we had ordered was not enough to feed all of us. The meal cost about 230 元 for all eleven of us.
We went back to the hotel stuffed and happy and tried out the wi-fi that Mr. Bi told us about that was located on the 3rd floor. It was incredibly slow because there were eight of us trying to access it at once, so I left to take a shower. I came back around 10:30pm because I really, really wanted
to contact everyone since I had not been able to do so since Saturday. The internet worked, but slowly and it was due to shut off at 11pm. I managed to send emails to my parents before it shut off.
Overall it was a fun, easygoing day with good company and good food.
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No Knee Mcgee
Christopher Lange
Well done
i'm digging this first entry. Good pictures and good descriptions. Miss you already!