Beijing... still bloody day one

Well, we are still in the Museum of Chinese Medicine. And sorry I took so long to continue coz, err... you know, the same excuse.

Anyhow, I found a shocking fact about the average lifespan of the chinese in the 40's, it's only up 30 year old!



Can u imagine that after going through all the hardship of life and then bang! time's up! Good lord, that's really saddening.

We later visited the famous Guo Yi Tang 国医堂。I really don't know much about it but apparently it's as prestigious as the Tong Ren Tang 同仁堂。It seems that Guo Yi Tang is famous for it's treatment and Tong Ren Tang for it's medicine. So I really don't know, these are just local opinion. I don't give much care to other people's opinions when it comes to quality and taste. You've got to find out yourself you know. Whenever people tell me the most sold out things are the best, I always reply sarcastically: "Yupe, Proton is also a no.1 selling car in M'sia." Say, The Bodyshop and L'Occitane. Most people will tell you The Bodyshop is much more famous than L'Occitane. But heck, if you ask me, L'Occitane deserves much better fame than The Bodyshop. Fame and popularity aren't the best way to judge the quality of things, my friend.



Having said that, I'm well impressed by all the TCM doctors available at Guo Yi Tang. My eyeballs almost popped out when I read their brief CVs.



I cannot believe my eyes when I read that this TCM doc's family has already passed down more than 19 generations of TCM knowledge. He's the 20th generation. The sheer magnitude of that shivers me. I wonder if he's like... very very good?



Guo Yi Tang is beautifully decorated with the expected ambience of a classic high class chinese wooden carving sort of style, which of course, irritates my local PHD seniors. You'd be surprised to hear that the younger generations here LOATHE anything traditional. I was going all excited and complimented how beautiful the place is and this PHD candidate went "Yuck, so old fashion, it's not modern at all." In chinese, of course.

Remember not so long ago I sprained my ankle? I was telling my local classmates that I couldn't be possibly walking in the rain because that will worsen it, and they gave me a look that will no doubt be on my top 10 list of the Most Unpleasant Experience in China. "Yeng, that is absolute bullshit." I was like.... HUH??? Didn't they like study it? It was like one of the most important concepts of Wind-Cold and Dampness attack. Du Hou Ji Sheng Tang 独活寄生汤 is such good an example that has been formulated to deal with these kind of conditions. I'm flabbergasted.



We also visited their other branch which is much bigger.



It's really intriquing how you can mix classical chinese furnishing with people in white coats. I like it. It's so... new age. :-) See pictures below.









Nice? What is an ideal interior design for a TCM hospital? any comments?