Dr Zhan said, his view of the story is that the first two doctors are how Chinese Medicine works and the third doctor, the surgeon, is how Western Medicine works. There is a need for both types of medicine. Keeping people healthy is of paramount importance, and then if they become unwell, acupuncture and herbs can be used. Only when these methods are not sufficient, is western medicine appropriate, which includes the powerful drugs and surgery.

Everyday Life of the Chinese People

Following on from the story of the three doctors, this brings me to tell you about my observations of everyday life whilst I was in China. From my hotel bedroom window, every morning I saw people in an adult playpark! At first light, around 6.30am, there were women in there 60's doing arm and leg exercises in unison, a man was on a cross-trainer and some people were still in their pajamas! Around the West Lake at dawn many practiced the art of Thai Chi and Qi Gong and others were involved in ballroom dancing - it was a very sociable affair!

Next door to our hotel we could receive a foot massage (similar to reflexology), neck massage or full body massage (tuina or acupressure). We were greeted with a cup of chrysanthamum and goji berry tea on arrival, which is a tea for the summer months we were kindly informed. The tea appeared in many places be it a lecture in the hospital, having a massage or in a restaurant.

Massage of the body is an excellent way of keeping the muscles free of toxins which build up when we are stressed. It can be deep muscle massage, shiatsu, tai massage - anything which improves the flow of blood and qi in the body. My foot massage was incredible; the young woman told me (even though neither of us could speak any English) that I needed more sleep! that's jet lag for you!

Breakfast took a little time to adjust to, but eventually I really enjoyed it which consisted of rice congee, aduki bean porridge, boiled rice, marinaded tofu in soy sauce, chilli and bayleaf, bean sprouts, pickles and rice flour dumplings! Lunch was also a big event in fact one amazing place we ate at was a food market on the top floor of a department store. Lots of different little stalls selling fresh food - you could point at what you fancied such as chicken, tofu, shitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, pak choy, cabbage, broccoli which they would weigh and you would pay in the region of £4.50 for two people! It would then be freshly cooked for you in the kitchen behind the stall. They added slices of root ginger, fresh herbs and infused oils. It was the best food I've ever tasted, simple, fresh and incredibly tasty!

The Acupuncture Department

We observed two doctors, Dr Bao who was Head of Acupuncture, and Dr Zhou. Dr Bao was incredibly busy, treating between 6 and 10 patients at any one time and when we arrived at 8am the place was already a hive of activity. Very little privacy was on offer for the patients but they simply revealed the part of their body which needed treating and took their shoes and socks off. People were very friendly towards us after we had been there three or four days, as many of the patients received treatment every day or every other day. We became acquainted by saying "Ni Hao" which means "Hello" in Chinese.

The following are a small selection of the conditions and treatments we saw:

Facial Paralysis (Bells Palsy): this was very common. We saw people ranging from a young woman aged 14, men in their 30 and 40's, and also women in their 50's with varying degrees of one-sided facial paralysis. Dr Bao said it appeared to be very common in Asian people, who seem more susceptible to it for some reason. Perhaps it was because people are in and out of air conditioned buildings then immediately into intense heat (it was sometimes 38'C outside whilst we were in China and also extremely humid).

In the acute phase of the condition (up to 15 days), treatment included the needles being inserted and taken out very quickly, within seconds, to stimulate the qi of the meridians of the affected side of the face. Only after 15 days were the needles retained and gentle electro-acupuncture applied.

We observed one woman in her 50's who was in the acute phase. We saw her treated every day, over a two week period and we definitely saw a big improvement during that time. Her face was initially very dropped on her left side, and she couldn't close her eye properly. By the time we were leaving to return to the UK, she could close her eye lid and her mouth wasn't as dropped. She was happy with the progress she had made because she gave us the 'thumbs up' sign when we asked with sign language how she was.

Cervical Spondylosis: This was also very common. We were lucky enough to see an X-ray of a patient, which showed bony growths on the edges of the cervical vertebrae, rather like a birds beak. Many people suffering with this condition reported numbness in their fingers and sometimes radiating pain down their arm.

Quite often patients would say "Oh I also haven't been sleeping well and I have tinnitus, so will you put some needles in for these too?" and Dr Bao would laugh and say "of course!".

Prolapsed Lumbar Vertebrae: Again very common indeed.

Treating Winter Diseases in the Summer time: This was very interesting to observe because this isn't a treatment which currently happens in the UK as far as I know. We saw a man being treated for Chronic Lung Qi Deficiency, which manifested as bad chest complaints during the cold winter months (recurring colds and coughs, bronchitis). The treatment was one of warming the lung cavity with ginger and moxa and also the Kidney energy (lower lumbar region). This is a picture of the man being treated.