Visiting the Four Virtues Park, you are greeted by this plaque which is translated into English , somewhat of a surprise. I love reading it's many wise thoughts. I also know that in this day and age you would not find a similar public posting in the West, it is too corny, too many behavioral suggestions by the authorities. But perhaps we do need to be reminded about living in harmony with all, to cherish the young, to be gentle and polite. And we should all plant some trees and flowers to brighten the day and save our environment. The virtue I want to focus on today tells me to be honest.

Before we set off for Beijing, Rabbi Darah Lerner asked if she could meet with Philip and me. We were of course very happy to see her, but understood that she also had something she wanted to tell us. This something was to realize that the first year would perhaps not be easy, that most people feel very lost and sometimes lonely being transplanted into a totally new environment. We shrugged it off, thinking how exiting it would be, so many new places to see....

Selling the house, , leaving the property, packing everything seemed to go quite easy. So I was not ready for feeling so upset when we brought my car in to the car dealer, I have never been emotional about cars, it is just away of getting around. About the freedom to come and go when and where you want.

Well, here we are, and it suddenly makes more sense. Last week we were in Shanghai and had dinner with one of Philip's coworkers. His wife is Chinese, but they lived in the US for 15 years. This whole time she begged to move the family back to Shanghai and her family, which they did last year. Her husband loves it as does her sons, but she has been miserable and homesick the whole time. For her house, her friends, even American TV shows. She said she felt as if she had lost her freedom. (She just bought a car, and feels much better)

I have to admit that those feelings are valid for me as well. It is hard to want to do something and not know how. I want to go places, but it is hard to get there, and hard to communicate when I arrive. You want to share something with a friend, but your real friends are far away, and the new ones are just that, new. Many groups are open and welcoming to newcomers, full of women in the same position, yet it takes some effort to go. But I do.

So, I look at the park poster again. Be open minded. Today we are moving into our own apartment. The crate from home arrived yesterday, and only the coffee pot was broken. It was so exiting to see my old cook books , to have our own quilts from home in what is to be our new home. We have met so many great people-they are not our "old" friends, but some of them will become our new friends. I may miss my Baja, but a new Giant bike will return some of the freedom of movement that I miss. We wish we could see you all in person, but also feel that because of e-mail and Skype you are really not that far away. With spring coming, remember to plant some trees and flowers. You may not be able to beautify Beijing, but beautify and enjoy where you are. And cherish the people around you, whether young or old.

Tradtional Chinese Medicine

Above are pictues of me with Drs.Tony Lu and Kelly Xia who work in our Guangzhou clinic and with Dr.Li Da, Chief of Oncology at Guangdong Provincial TCM hospital.

I recently traveled to Guangzhou and spent time at our clinic there and visited two hospitals. We are considering taking over a floor in one of the hospitals to use for cooperation on inpatients and deliveries. The 2nd was the Guangdong Provincial Hospital which is a 1500 bed hospital and the busiest in Guangzhou, a city of 7 million previously known as Canton. This hospital is a TCM hospital primarily but also combines that with Western medicine. I didn't bring my camera so will describe it a bit. It is very modern with a large reception area. On the wall are perhaps 100 pictures of physicians with information about them. Patients are standing in front of the pictures reading and after deciding who they want to see they take a number for that doctor. If they are early enough they will get to see that doctor sometime during the day. There are different fee schedules based on the seniority of the doctor.

The second floor houses the pharmacies, both TCM and Western. The TCM part is much larger. A day of medicine is made up of perhaps 20 sealed bags in a paper bag. When you get home you mix them together in water, boil it and drink it morning and evening. You get about 10 such bags and then have to return to see the doctor in about 10 days. I am told that you spend about 5 minutes with the doctor and by feeling your pulse, looking at your tongue, and briefly speaking with you they can individualize your therapy.

I visited the oncology ward and met the Chief of the Hematologic malignancies. They had 51 patients on the ward all with familiar diagnoses listed on a board with a few English letters such as MM for multiple myeloma or NHL for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. When discussing what treatments they use, the physicians often answered, "according to economics". They were very knowledgeable and had ready access to National Cancer Center guidelines. Luckily they were eager to have a picture with me and took the above picture and emailed it to me. They give chemo first followed by TCM. Patients who would get their treatment as an out-patient in my practice may spend 1-2 weeks in the hospital. It was clear that not many patients could afford the newest most expensive medications even when life-saving such as in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

I also got a tour of the Traditional Therapeutic Center where they use multiple methods of treatment including "moxi-bustion" which is cigar-like bundles of an herb that are burning and are applied close to the abdomen or other areas. They emit a very strong smell that is very similar to marijuana. I also was shown a live example of bee sting therapy used to bolster the immune system for frequent colds or fatigue. The doctor took a pair of tweezers, reached into a little box and quickly removed a live bee and applied it to the right thigh where it stung the patient in the acupuncture "stomach point." I was asked if I would like a treatment but luckily for me my colleague stepped in and explained that I was about to get on a plane.

I missed the "cupping" that was over for the day but got to see the "fumigation" apparatus,, "feet balneotherapy" and pictures of "ear points", "wax therapy", along with pictures of "bleeding therapy",and "Plum pit needle therapy."

I have seen a young woman on treatment for breast cancer who did feel that TCM(herbal meds) made a huge improvement in her post-menopausal symptoms brought on by Western hormonal treatment.

It was a fascinating day. Any aches or pains that might lend itself to TCM?
Philip

Like A Child

In many ways our life in China has made me feel like a child again. Arriving in the airport, we were met by the recruiter and our real estate agent who immediately realized that we could no longer be trusted to carry any bags or enter a car without being told where to sit. Navigating the street, a firm hand was placed on our elbows. Nothing was going to happen to their charges!

Then there is the language. We do not understand what the storekeepers or the taxi drivers are saying. If shopping, I am now reduced to pointing my fingers until I get what I want. When it is time to pay, I look at the cash register, but if there is no display I trustfully put money in my hand, and they take what they want. And like a child I trust that this is OK, everyone seem very honest. Once in a small restaurant I ordered a dish which was not available, and therefore had to re-order. The bill is written when you order, and unbeknownst to me, the meal I received cost slightly less. Two seconds later the waitress came running with 4 RMB (About 60 cent) and apologized for having overcharged me.

As for the taxis, since I can not explain where I would like to go, what can I do? Use a taxi-book, which is cards with directions in English and Mandarin. So I flag down a taxi, hand him my note and wait for a nod to tell me I can enter the taxi , yes he can take me.

But what if we do not have a card? This presents a problem, but there is always someone looking over us,only a phone call away . As soon as a cab stops, we call someone who speaks Mandarin and they become our voices as we hand the phone over to the driver, wait for his nod before climbing in, yes he will take us.

We love picture books, or rather picture menus. Eating out is not a luxury in Beijing, it is what people do. The more Western the restaurant, the more Western the price and the other way around. The price index goes down as the "local" index goes up. And the more local,the less chance of any English either spoken or on the menus. But then there are picture menus;big, glossy pictures; we point,we look,we show the waiter. And what appears is really tasty!! As we have started to learn characters, we now know that the lamb letter has horns- we can avoid pork!!

Surrounded by syllables and tones totally new to our brain, we slowly start imitating what seems most basic and important: Go right-youbian, go left-zuobian, go straight- zhi zou. As we start to know our neighborhood, these words haltingly escape from our lips. Perhaps the tone is not quite correct, but our joy is great when the driver indicates he understands what we are actually trying to say.

When Philip gets home from work, he becomes my playmate as we play computer games. Only the game is real- we are trying to pay our bills on-line(new to us) Whose account number are we supposed to put in, ours or theirs? Why did the screen go blank?? Do you think it is going through?? Bingo !

I am a little jealous of Philip as he has already started school (Mandarin). But next week I hope to start school as well. And then, we are getting bikes- can't wait to race around the neighborhood!!
Astri

Walk in "Side" Park and Mr.Ping Pong

It has been another very interesting and busy week. I started with my Mandarin lessons at 7:30 AM Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Learning the pinyin sounds has been difficult but very helpful. Astri continues negotiating and now looking again at apartments and I flew 3 1/2 hours to Guangzhou on business. Had a fascinating tour of a 1500 bed TCM hospital that also gives Western treatments. They had 50 patients all with hematologic malignancies on one floor. More about this in an upcoming blog.

Last weekend we had a peaceful Sunday and just strolled around our neighborhood. We were told about the local park. The sign says Side Park. It was only later in the week when I was telling a Chinese colleague about the park that I was corrected about the the name. It is not English but rather pinyin Mandarin. "Si" means "four" and "de" in this case means "virtue". Four Virtues park- not Side park. Another interesting tidbit is that 4 is an unlucky number since another sign that sounds similar to "si" means death. Many buildings have floors 1,2,3,and 5. Jay and Bingbing please correct me if I have missed something here.

It is a lovely park with pond for fishing (presently ice fishing), outdoor ping pong tables (need to supply your own net), playground, small amusement park, two nice tennis courts, football (soccer) fields, small restaurant and more. As Astri and I were watching some men playing ping pong I was invited to play. We played for about an hour and were a good match. I had a great time. He spoke no English but we were able to share telephone numbers and he is now securely in my phone and on my sim card as Mr.Ping Pong.

After our time in the park we walked over to the Lido Holiday Inn, which is very Western with many fancy restaurants, Vegetarian, Thai, Indian, Delicatessen,Chinese,Starbucks, and a Baskin Robbins!

Hope all is well with you and will post again soon.
Philip