Well we made it. Just waiting for one more to join us. A long journey and the highlight was me standing on the tarmac at Beijing airport about to board to Harbin in -7deg in a tshirt because I was so hot! The Chinese all thought I was mental! Arrived at the University and checked into the rooms, went out for a delicious lunch (not sure we all got what we thought we'd ordered but it tasted good!), unpacked, had a quick tour around the TCM hospital (the pharmacy and its herbs are just unreal) and then back to rooms where we all collapsed into bed. All ready to start our programme this morning. Exciting times.
There has been a lot to think about on this trip. As well as meeting some new lifelong friends, you cannot come on a trip like this without it changing how you view the world. I have travelled to many places in the past but in a sightseeing capacity. To see a country in a hospital and see its sick and vulnerable is to really see a country. I have learnt more about China and it's people than I ever could visiting tourist sites. We have an image in the west of China and what it is like but it's people are warm, friendly, loving of their families and welcoming of foreigners. Yes I will be glad to leave behind the squat toilets, spitting on the floor and being pushed and jostled wherever you go and even the odd unidentified object in your dinner, but I will miss the people. China is changing rapidly. It is becoming more Western and consumerism has taken over despite the government trying to slow it down. Chinese Medicine hospitals are an excellent way of treating those with less mo
Today was our last day on the wards with Professor Liu Gang, an extremely experienced Dr on Acupuncture ward one. He gave us a lecture on using the sinews for recovery after stroke. If the patient I'd able, he uses low frequency, high intensity electroacupuncture on pairs of sinews points combined with scalp acupuncture for recovery, particularly after stroke. The patients are have MRI, ECG's. Blood tests and are treated with a combination of western drugs, herbs and acupuncture and adjunctive therapies.
Comments
Post a Comment