TCM - Taditional Chinese Medicine. We visited a hospital specialising in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In particular they performed back surgery using micro-techniques, leaving minimal scaring, and quick recovery. We met and spoke with some patients and their family, some were going in for surgery, others were recovering from surgery. Elke was treated with a dep tissue back massage. The is a desire from staff at the hospital to promote the techniques they use within Western medicine, and find a balance between Eastern and Western practices.
Later we went to Wangfujing, a shopping/market place. Tony, Des and Matt enjoyed - maybe enjoyed is too strong a word. Tony, Des and Matt consumed some skewers with scorpion (which were still moving before they were cooked), star fish and caterpillar lavae.
Thursday we had the opportunity to visit the Lama, Confuscias Temple. Later, Tony, Matt and Des went cycling with Spring, and Elke and Lora visited Jingshan Park (near the Forbidden City) ad back to Wangfujing (no crawling animals were consumed). Beijing is very different to Shanghai - particularly for the number of historical places to visit. Each place offers a new wonder or thing of interest like the huge 18m tall Buddah carved of a single piece of sandalwood, or finding the place where Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide in Jingshen Park.
Another thing of wonder is sitting in a Chinese Tea House listening to traditional Chinese instruments, only to realise you know the tune they are playing, and finding yourself singing along to "Click Go the Shears Boys". That is what happened on Wednesday night when we were taken out to dinner by two of the Chinese team members who travelled to New Zealand as part of GSE in 2008. We were able to swap stories about the difference in culture and hear a little about how the experience impacted on them. This opportunity to share with others who have had a similar experience was very valuable. We then visited a Wine Bar that was opened by a Chinese person after visiting Australia and experiencing some of our wines. Many familiar labels were found inside.
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