On my last flight to China on United Airlines, I got sick from the food. I knew airline food is often horrible, but I was an idiot and ate anyway.
After landing in China, I went to a Chinese pharmacy for help. The Shanghai pharmacist took an American medicine for diarrhea off the shelf. I said no. She looked surprised.
“Give me Chinese medicine. Western medicine does too much damage to the body.”
She smiled and looked impressed. “He knows,” she said. “You do know that the Chinese medicine will take longer to heal you.”
I know that Yin and Yang underlie all aspects of Chinese philosophy and medicine. I know that the Chinese believe in balance so the body remains healthy. That’s one of the reasons you often see Chinese up early in the morning doing Tai Chi in parks. Maintaining health is more than eating properly. It also includes exercise. That doesn’t mean everyone in China follows the philosophy of Yin and Yang.
Tai Chi
Western medicine, on the other hand, waits until the patient is sick—then uses drugs, many that are dangerous, surgery, chemicals and radiation to try to fix things often with side effects that are worse than the disease.
Discover Attitudes Toward Health in China
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse 
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